The random book list generator experiment continues! This time my LibraryThing page told me that I should read
That Bringas Woman (or
La de Bringas if you want the Spanish title) by the 19th century Spanish author Benito Perez Galdos -- nicely pictured in this painting by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida.
I remember buying this book at Half Price, but I don't remember why I thought I should buy it. I'd never heard of Galdos, never heard of the book, and I don't even really remember reading the back of it for a plot synopsis. I think maybe it was only a dollar and I liked the picture on the front. Once I got it home and realized it was a classic Spanish novel from 1884, my lukewarm passion for the book cooled even further, and it sat lonely on my shelf until the random book reading plan of 2005 brought it to my attention.
To my surprise, I really really enjoyed this book. A lot of that has to do with the excellent translation by Catherine Jagoe, in combination with her skillful introduction and footnotes. The problem with some 19th century literature, particularly that which was originally written in another language, is that they are all the time referring to events that you don't know about, alluding to figures you have never heard of, and trying out new literary techniques that you can't recognize because they don't come through in the translation. Jagoe solves these problems with some supplementary material, including a timeline at the beginning of the book that puts Galdos' life and literary output alongside his contemporaries in the world of literature, and against historical events that occurred during his life. Her introduction (which I read when I was halfway through the book for some reason, usually I wait until I get to the end, but I felt like I wanted a little more context) and her note on the translation provide even more context. And best of all, at the end of the book she gives us snippets of criticism about the book that summarize its reception from 1884, when it was released, through the present day. Maybe its just the geeky English major in me, but I love that stuff.
Galdos was a very popular author in Spain at the time that this book came out -- in fact, it is a bit of a mystery why he is so overlooked in the literary canon of today. Jagoe seems to suggest that part of his disappearance has to do with Franco's dislike of Galdos' leftist leanings. This book is part of a group of books that feature interlocking characters (although not really a series), and with
La de Bringas, Galdos shows the influence of Zola, veers away from his regular style and dips his toes in the pool of Realism. This more informal observation of everyday life, peppered with colloquialisms, inner thoughts, and lots and lots of detail, was something different than what Spanish audiences were used to. And, if the criticism in the back of the book is any indication, not all of them liked it right away.
Okay, so what is the story
about? It is kind of a morality tale about Rosalia Bringas, the wife of a middle-class civil servant who lives in the Royal Palace with her family. She wants to rise in the social ranks, which apparently involves wearing a great deal of expensive and frivolous clothes. The problem is that her husband is a bit cheap and really doesn't believe in going into debt to buy clothing. Rosalia takes matters into her own hands, obtains some loans, and buys a bunch of clothes which she then hides from her husband, who is very busy anyway working on a complicated memorial picture made entirely of human hair. One loan turns into two loans, and Rosalia is soon "under the intoxicating influence of an overdose of fripperies." And has no way of paying the loans back. Her only options are to sleep with one of her husband's rich friends so that he will give her money, or ask one of her relations who she knows has the money if she will loan it to her. The problem with the relation is that her sister and this one rich gentleman are living in sin together which has put all kinds of shame on the whole family. Rosalia's decision says a lot about her character and leads to the climax of the novel.
Okay, maybe that was more than you wanted to hear about this overlooked Spanish novel from 1884. Still, I thought it was good enough that I want to seek out some of Galdos' other novels. Plus I have this whole idea in my head for an essay that would compare this novel with Ibsen's play "A Doll's House," that came out just five years before this (thank you, timeline).
What will the random reading generator bring up next? Only time will tell!
What did you guys do at work today? File some stuff? Meet with people? Read some documents? Pretty boring, huh?
Best movie quote of Friday night:
If you like old advertisements and graphic design as much as me, then waste a little Friday time at the Fulton Street Trade Card Collection of the Brooklyn Public Library. More info on the card pictured above is here.
The latest randomly read book was the truly wonderful All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. This was the first of his books that I've read -- Josh has been gushing about how great Blood Meridian was, and McCarthy has long been on my list of things to check out. In fact, this book is so enthralling that I know I can't do it justice with my rambling sort of review, so I won't even try. Other than to say: Great, and a book I kept thinking about going home to read all day while I was at work.
I recently expanded the personal rules of my Library Thing catalog to include all of Josh's books that are mixed in with mine (which is, basically, all the books he has already read. Unread books are in the forbidden closet of mystery and are thusly not catalogued). The excellent by-product of this decision is that his books now come up in my random book generator and, therefore, are included in my "what to read next" system.
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years is filled with wonderful moments: Ozzie making breakfast, the assless pants of Randy O from Odin, Paul Stanley giving his entire interview while laying in bed with some model-type groupies, the hair, the hair, and the hair.
The most recent stop in the random book-reading game was Who Got Einstein's Office? Eccentricity and Genius at the Institute for Advanced Study by Ed Regis (1987). I bought this book a year ago or so -- the Institute for Advanced Study comes up a lot in my mathematical archives work, and this looked like a readable and informal history of the place. Of course, after buying it, all my other books looked much more interesting and approachable. Then my new random book reading plan took hold and this guy bumped up to the top of the list.
Einstein was the first permanent faculty member, and he stayed at the Institute until his death. In fact, the picture above of Einstein's office was taken shortly after his death and is just like he left it. So who got his office? This is answered pretty quickly -- first an astronomer, then a mathematician. Its still in use and hasn't been preserved as a shrine or anything like that.
This book was very readable and interesting. Because the Institute is pretty far-reaching in its pursuit of knowledge, the book is a little all over the place. You get a nice smattering of biographical and personality profiles of major scientists (Goedel, Einstein, Oppenheimer), a gloss over some major mathematical and physical theories (superstring theory, Cantor sets, cellular automata), and a look into some of the politics, advantages, and disadvantages of the Institutes system. Since the book was written in the late eighties, some of the "cutting-edge" information is outdated. The author also has an irritating habit of trying to informalize his prose to the point of calling John von Neumann "good time Johnny" ("Johnny" is pictured here with the computer he invented while at the IAS) and referring to J. Robert Oppenheimer as "Oppie."
When Professor Romance asks about something, you can't deny him the answer. You can, however, ignore him for months, forget he asked the question, and then grudgingly answer it the next time he asks. That is my move, though, so don't steal it.
I found these awesome word problems written by elementary school students in one of my collections this morning. Apparantly including an illustration was optional, because this cat was the only one I found. Ah, the miracle of life (and the miracle of multiplication!)
Let's all go to Glasgow! 
The carpets have officially been dried, the padding replaced, and the whole damn place steamcleaned. There are still some stale smells floating around, but I think I can treat them with baking soda and positive thinking. The main victims in this tragedy are a bunch of my American Archivist journals (which I hadn't really read yet because sometimes I'm not so good about keeping up on the archival theory), a few books about going to Las Vegas (which I don't really need as much now that I have already been there), and two copies of my senior thesis from college. The thesis is still readable and got pretty dry, and it was really the only irreplaceable thing. I also lost a few pieces of bedroom furniture that were actually cardboard boxes, including a bookshelf and my nightstand. Note: cardboard furniture does not hold up to water. Now I just have to put all my damn shit away. And buy a nightstand.
Let us forget this sudden flooding and the fans blowing away in our apartment and hearken back to the dry Sunday morning of a few days ago when I made a fabulous breakfast, including a fresh loaf of Orange Coconut Bread and a delectable fruit plate. And coffee. Yes, let us just focus our minds back on the coconut and forget all this flooding....
1. Have your husband wake you up at 1:30 in the morning because there is water all over the floor in the kitchen.
The random book list generator experiment continues! This time my LibraryThing page told me that I should read That Bringas Woman (or La de Bringas if you want the Spanish title) by the 19th century Spanish author Benito Perez Galdos -- nicely pictured in this painting by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida.
If you really needed an excuse to come to my work and walk up and down the hallway outside my office, you can come check out our new exhibit -- Marching On: Independent African American Films From 1935-1950. And after that, go see some of the free films being shown around town in conjunction with the exhibit. There are some really nice movie posters, stills, old film reels and other things to be seen around here.
Octopus takes liking to sub off coast.
