Wedding report and bits and pieces

[lady_schrapnell]

Far too tired now to attempt a clever subject line, indicating the focus on Dorian's and Patrick's (AKA dorianegray and taliesinn) wedding, with a few other report tasters, as it were.



The important thing is that the day went off fabulously, confirming my belief that it was indeed a charmed event! Dorian looked wonderful - while entirely herself (I bet everyone's been to a wedding where a pro has taken over and the bride suddenly looks like a different person with entirely different style), she and Patrick (who looked wonderful too - sorry!) so obviously happy they just about shone (and not just with the gold of the gold-and-black colour scheme!), weather was beautiful, which is a real change, and all attendants' outfits perfect. Charlie had the camera thrust on him after the ceremony, as I couldn't smuggle it in to him before, and managed to get some nice pics while the professional was lining us up. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to grab it back after the wedding party had been done and get a few with him in too. He swears he'll be visible in the everyone-at-the-ceremony picture outside the church, but I don't count top of his head, and am pretty sceptical about anything else. The ones I have are up on my flickr account, some friends only, but there will be many more, including ones of the reception obviously, from Dorian and Patrick soon.

It was such a real pleasure to be there and share their celebration.

Y.D. came home from school feeling terrible, went straight to bed with a hot water bottle and two duvets, and has now gone from the chills to a high fever. Hence the teaser nature of the bits and pieces.

When Charlie was here I thrust Criss Cross into his hands and demanded he read a few passages - none in particular, but wherever it fell open. I was very pleased when he said that he could see what I meant when I said that the writing reminded me of Harriet the Spy. We didn't get very far in analysing the similarity - simple prose and short sentences, tightly tied to a character's perspective and - er, and that's pretty much it - would hold for a lot of books. But it was nice that what struck me about CC didn't seem daft to him.

I continue to be amazed at the entertainingly bizarre nature of The Water Babies, which I've nearly finished now! The shifts between standard Victorian morality, surprisingly sensible education and child-raising ideas, rather pointed social criticism, occasionally precious-whimsical and sometimes wonderfully original fantasy, high satire, sometimes perceptive scientific commentary with a lot of satirical digs as well, bog-standard English jingoism, *some* kind of gender issues (addresses to the reader are always of the 'my little man' type, though I'd be astonished if a large proportion of readers weren't girls)... Well, a rich and varied mix, as must be evident from the partial list above. I'd love to quote chunks, but sometimes it's the sheer length of the lists and rants that gives the effect. (Check out the terrifying cover: I'm almost afraid to read it in public!)

Mostly only reading course texts, when I have had time to read at all, but when those include Tom Brown's Schooldays (thoroughly enjoyable and also often surprisingly liberal/modern ideas), The Water Babies and a reread of The Cuckoo Clock, it's not cause for complaint.

Comments

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

It does look like a beautiful day and the Bridal party looked great! Such interesting clothes.

I remember being puzzled by The water babies when I read it as a child. Some sections (probably the fantasy bits you mention) I remember liking but on the whole it was confusing. Perhaps it is due for a re-read with adult eyes :)

[lady-schrapnell.livejournal.com]

Heh - I was just thinking 'The Water Babies and The Child Reader' would make a very interesting end-of-module essay! And had said to Charlie, when forcing upon him sections of interest (to me) that I couldn't even imagine a child getting huge amounts of it. And it's not as if it's the odd reference of a line or so - it's pages at a roll. Even as an adult, looking at children's lit of the period, I very much feel the need for a proper edition with footnotes, in order to get a lot of the allusions.

I had an abridged, heavily illustrated book as a child, which I loved. It's really odd reading the unabridged version and vividly recalling every illustration while reading the appropriate scene and then having long stretches which are totally new!

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

I can imagine it would make a lovely illustrated book. My copy had a beautiful cover.

I'm amazed at how much more patient I was back then. Now if I don't understand/dislike large chunks of a book I'm reading for recreation I move onto another book.

[wyvernfriend.livejournal.com]

Pat and Dorian indeed look very well. As do you! Those dresses are beautiful.

[lady-schrapnell.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's a nice comment. Hope we can meet up sometime soon - I meant to answer your email and then things got so crazy everything went out of my head altogether!

[wyvernfriend.livejournal.com]

we should, I doubt we'll manage it this weekend, judging by health going around. But we will have to organise ourselves sometime soon.