ww1, full circle
I have posted numerous times about my obsession with the Great War. I have read a good deal about it, and especially about the artists who lived through it. Now, my WWI dreams have come true: my favorite living mystery writer, Jacqueline Winspear, has written her latest Maisie Dobbs mystery about an artist who lived through the war. The book is called Messenger of Truth, which refers to the main character's mentor, who often said that coincidence is a messenger of truth.
AND---the author will be in Washington tomorrow, signing books! And I am going!! With my mom, who also loves the books!
Cricket...cricket...
ok I know most of you could care less, but besides Harry Potter, the Maisie Dobbs mysteries have really captured my imagination, and to meet someone who brought so many interesting characters--and indeed, a whole era--to life is a real thrill to me.
I also realized that my obsession with that time period goes even farther back than high school art classes. My favorite Charlie Brown cartoon, the Great Pumpkin, has Snoopy pretending to be a World War 1 Flying Ace. I was mesmerized by the flute solo playing in the background, as Snoopy sneaks through enemy lines after being shot down.
The other childhood connection is Hallmark's version of The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. We taped the show, and it was on constant rotation when I was babysitting my sister (along with Wizard of Oz, which we both memorized, and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, which cracked her up so much, it made me laugh even when I didn't think the video was funny). My mom liked it because she thought the girl playing Mary Lenox looked like me. She did, though her teeth didn't stick out in all directions like mine...The soundtrack of the show is all Chopin piano Nocturnes, which I tried to pick out by ear on our piano, to mixed success. At the end of this version of the story, the grown-up Mary meets the grown-up Colin Craven in the secret garden, to say yes to his marriage proposal. He is a wounded British soldier of the Great War, and we find that Dickon had been killed in the war.
The actor who played the grown-up Colin Craven was Colin Firth, a very handsome unknown actor at the time, and a very handsome Mr. Darcy later on. All my obsessions wrapped up in one. Sigh.
AND---the author will be in Washington tomorrow, signing books! And I am going!! With my mom, who also loves the books!
Cricket...cricket...
ok I know most of you could care less, but besides Harry Potter, the Maisie Dobbs mysteries have really captured my imagination, and to meet someone who brought so many interesting characters--and indeed, a whole era--to life is a real thrill to me.
I also realized that my obsession with that time period goes even farther back than high school art classes. My favorite Charlie Brown cartoon, the Great Pumpkin, has Snoopy pretending to be a World War 1 Flying Ace. I was mesmerized by the flute solo playing in the background, as Snoopy sneaks through enemy lines after being shot down.
The other childhood connection is Hallmark's version of The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. We taped the show, and it was on constant rotation when I was babysitting my sister (along with Wizard of Oz, which we both memorized, and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, which cracked her up so much, it made me laugh even when I didn't think the video was funny). My mom liked it because she thought the girl playing Mary Lenox looked like me. She did, though her teeth didn't stick out in all directions like mine...The soundtrack of the show is all Chopin piano Nocturnes, which I tried to pick out by ear on our piano, to mixed success. At the end of this version of the story, the grown-up Mary meets the grown-up Colin Craven in the secret garden, to say yes to his marriage proposal. He is a wounded British soldier of the Great War, and we find that Dickon had been killed in the war.
The actor who played the grown-up Colin Craven was Colin Firth, a very handsome unknown actor at the time, and a very handsome Mr. Darcy later on. All my obsessions wrapped up in one. Sigh.
2 Comments:
That guy was Colin Firth!?!?!?!? NO WAY! LOL! I cannot tell you what an excited dither you've just put me in - now I HAVE to re-watch that classic as soon as I get back in VA ;)
I didn't know you were a WWI buff :) Back during my early teens, I was obsessed with the American Revolution, but throughout highschool and now, it's WWII. I find people like the Hapsburgs of Austria facinating :)
I couldn't believe it either, but it all makes beautiful sense!
check out the Illusionist if you get the chance--set in Vienna, 1880's, and has the hapsburgs in it quite a bit. great plot twists too.
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