so many books!

Posted on by Shae

Box of books heading for Alaska

And the words slide into the slots ordained by syntax, and glitter as with atmospheric dust with those impurities which we call meaning. ~ Anthony Burgess

Hello!

It’s been so long since we’ve posted here that I may have forgotten how — and I have no idea whether anyone is still out there on the reading end. I’ll start with something simple to see if we can get going again. We’re leaving for Alaska tomorrow and I’m excited. I spent time in Fairbanks in 2017 but I didn’t get to go to the cabin. I’m twice as eager to get there this year.

I’ve been sharing my cabin reading list from year to year so that’s what I’m going to do here. It’s a shorter list than usual, but it includes one unusual item that’s likely to keep us occupied and spark some good conversation during our stay.

Photo of a handwritten journal

Cabin Reading 2018

Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style, by Virginia Tufte (This book is not our conversation starter. It is, however, an extraordinary collection of sentences gathered by the author to illustrate her astute points about the many types of sentences and how they do their work.)

Purity, by Jonathan Franzen (I was inspired to pick it up because of how much I loved this recent piece in the NYT Magazine about Franzen.)

The Spell of the Sensuous, by David Abram

Stewart sent ahead many more books than I did this year. Almost all of them are about two subjects he wants to know better: one is artificial intelligence and the other is blockchain technology. It would be difficult for me to describe how much I don’t want to think or talk about these two topics while we are in the wilderness. I’d guess I want to talk about them as much as Stewart wants to discuss syntax.

But here’s one book he chose that I will sneak away from him at some point:

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the last True Hermit, by Michael Finkel

And the piece we’re likely to discuss together in detail is the one pictured above; it’s the fat, carefully handwritten 1930s journal of Stewart’s aunt Elizabeth, when she was traveling to Europe, India, and elsewhere. I got to know Elizabeth this spring when I typed up her 50-page handwritten biography of her mother (Stewart’s grandmother) as a birthday gift for Stewart.

Photo of Elizabeth Humphrey Cubley
Elizabeth Humphrey Cubley (1904-1992)

Elizabeth was a schoolteacher, an adventurer, and a fine writer. She feels like a familiar spirit to me and I look forward to spending more time with her.

Bessie had a garden back of the house; she cooked on an old wood burning range in the dark kitchen. She kept hills of vegetables in the cellar in summer and packed in sand in the cold back kitchen in winter. She used to bend over a guitar and sing to me. How well I remember that haunting lullaby from Tennyson, “Wind of the Western Seas.” There was a line in it, “Daddy will come to you soon.”

This makes a beginning. I see that we still have a lot of untouched topics in our Cabin FAQ, which will give us something fun to work on while we’re gone. Also, it sounds like we’ll be staying in a couple of interesting place in Fairbanks this trip so I’ll try to check in from there.

 

24 thoughts on “so many books!”

  2. Let the adventure begin! Will look forward to each and every entry, Shae! Your book choices are enticing and Stewart’s Aunt Elizabeth’s writing will I doubt be charming. Sending you both warm wishes for a splendid, exceptional time. ❌⭕️

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  4. Happily received, the book list looks great and I love the journal, what a treasure that must be. Have a great time Shae and I look forward to each post xoxo

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    1. Thank you, Annie! Two of the birds will stay here with our house sitter and the other two (newlyweds) are honeymooning in a friend’s big aviary in Sonoma. :-)

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  10. Hooray for Fairfax to Fairbanks, my favorite reading material! Elizabeth’s journal looks like pure treasure. Wishing you peace and adventure in the Alaskan wilderness, Shae and Stewart.

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