I have had many books on my shelves or on my piles that have spent a good part of their literary career languishing. They are purchased with good intent and then sit, gathering dust, rotating from tops of piles to midsection, then bottom, languishing.
I first heard this phrase about books in one of the first posts I read on Book Snob. It was an engaging review of a book Rachel read; a book she said had been languishing. Rachel’s reviews are always well written and absorbing. She has led me to books I might never have known of. She is about to embark on a career change, going back to studies, and will one day be the kind of literature teacher all children should have. She has already taught this sectarian child a great deal.
This August, it finally came to be that I opened up Dodie Smith’s enchanting novel, “I Capture the Castle”. It begins like this:
“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining-board, which I have padded with our dog’s blanket and the tea-cosy. I can’t say that I am really comfortable, and there is a depressing smell of carbolic soap, but this is the only part of the kitchen where there is any daylight left . . . “
These are the words of Cassandra as she writes in her journal, the place where she puts down her thoughts as she sets out to capture the centuries old castle she and her family live in. In doing so, she also captures the reader’s heart.
The Mortmain’s live in poverty. They haven’t paid the rent in years. They read and work by candlelight and bathe on alternating days in front of the kitchen fire. Father, a once famous author, spends his days cloistered in the gatehouse, reading detective novels. Topaz, his second wife, a sometimes portrait model of some fame, does her best to take of the family, which include Cassandra’s sister, Ruth, brother, Thomas, and Stephen, who tends to the garden and chores as the book opens. He has a room in the castle. Stephen’s mother helped care for the Mortmain family after Cassandra’s mother died.
There is the vicar, Miss Marcy who brings books to the castle, and Miss Blossom, the dressmaker’s dummy who tenders advice to Rose and Cassandra. Soon, the Cottons arrive from America, with Simon the new heir of the estate, which includes the castle that Cassandra is trying to capture. Along with Simon comes his brother, Neil, their mother, and a host of other interesting characters. Their arrival marks a turning point for the Mortmains as Cassandra fills the pages of her journals, in her own coded writing, with all the happenings as well as her feelings, concerns, and wonderment. Will Rose find a husband? Will Stephen, who dotes on Cassandra, become a photographer’s model? Will father finally start writing again locked up in – well, I won’t tell you about that. You will have to read the book to find out, which I truly hope you will do, and I hope as well that I Capture the Castle will not languish too long upon your mind, your list, or your shelf.
Do you have a favorite first sentence to a book or is there a book languishing on your shelf?
It Is SO long since I read I Capture The Castle, Penny, that it’s lovely to have been reminded of it. I borrowed it from the library many years ago. Now to check whether they still have a copy…..
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PS I’v just checked (oh, the wonders of the internet – checking my library catalogue from France!) and it was reissued this year and the library service has bought 6 copies. 🙂
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I’m glad you found your library has copies, Perpetua. Isn’t it wonderful how, with a few clicks of a computer key, we can find books in an instant? This was my first read of I Capture the Castle and I really enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy a re-read soon.
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Sounds like a good read. I love that opening. When a book catches you at the outset it’s usually a can’t-put-it-down one.
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So true, Teresa. I know if I need to keep reading those first pages over, the book is just not for me, at least right then. This is a good read and just what I needed right now.
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I’m amused at the idea of books languishing (yes I have some like that), but then others are like ladies in waiting: my Jane Austens in particular, always gracefully awaiting a re-read. As for first sentences, how about this:
‘Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.’
[The opening to ‘Emma’] We just know, ‘here comes trouble!’ Jane Austen never lets her characters get stuck in pride and complacency. Emma is about to be ‘worked on’, in modern parlance.
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Ladies in waiting – how wonderful that is, and you have quoted among the best in first sentences. You, dear Juliet, have captured the essence of Emma and Austen so well. Thank you for this!
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‘Languishing’ is a wonderful way to put it and yes, I have so many books doing that thing that I avoid thinking about how many there actually are. LOL Read I Capture the Castle a few years back and while I liked it, I didn’t love it for some strange reason. That first sentence is one of those iconic ones that often gets asked in quizzes I notice.
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It is easier not to think of how many books, isn’t it? I liked it more than loved it as well, Cath. So much of it had me laughing or soaking up the the scenery and predicaments. The ending me wanting more or different or something that didn’t quite satisfy. Still, I recommend I Capture the Castle.
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Can’t wait to get this from the library (I just reserved it) and start reading. The stacks of books that have been languishing (what do you call all those on the Kindle that you haven’t read yet?) can wait awhile longer. Will I have more time to read when I retire? Hoping…
By the way, we got 1 3/4 inches of rain last night. Rain, blessed rain. Rain that did more than spot the windshield on the car. Rain that actually puddled on hard surfaces, soaking into the thirsty ground everywhere else. Rain that gurgled down the downspout. Now if we could only get about 16 inches more…. Five years ago we got over 17 inches in a few days and the south part of town flooded, many homes lost. So guess I’d better be careful what I wish for.
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Now that’s a good question, Joyce. Maybe some Kindle readers will have an answer to that. The older I get, the less time I seem to have for reading, but, I keep on hoping to get more books read just the same.
Yea! Blessed rain, indeed. We had a good day of rain here today, with still some more coming down, but, I think your dry spell has been deeper than here around Chicago. Here’s hoping for a few more inches for you, Joyce.
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I Capture the Castle sounds like a marvelous read. If I ever get through the stacks of books languishing at home, I will have to look for it.
One of my favorite first lines was from Betty McDonald’s The Egg and I.. It started ” I really tried to like chickens…” I was thumbing through some books and came across this book. I was hooked by the first line. I knew that it would make me laugh and it did.
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I think you would like this, Janet. Cassandra and Rose get themselves into some interesting situations that made me laugh and I think will make you laugh too.
That’s a wonderful first line and a delightful book. I haven’t read “The Egg and I’ since I was young. It would be fun to read it again and have a good chuckle. I should add that to my TBR list as a reminder to reread it.
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The Egg and I was one of the books in our home library that I read once or twice a summer. I reread it a few years ago and we watched the movie. It’s still fun.
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Thank you for your lovely words, Penny! You are so good to me! I am delighted that you loved I Capture the Castle. It’s such a wonderful book! Letting a book languish just means you have more time to anticipate how delightful it is!
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You are quite welcome, Rachel. I mean it all and more. I am so thrilled that you are going into teaching and excited for the children you will inspire. This is an enchanting book and I don’t know how it came to be that I had not heard of it or read it in my youth. The title did sit on my list for a spell, then the book even longer on the pile. It is so thoughtful how these books wait for us, isn’t it?
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Dear Penny, what an interesting and intriguing question. And yes, I do have a number of books languishing on my bedside table. The one I so want to read–as I work through the pile is a biography of “Jerusalem” by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Two others are a memoir–“Two Hearts: An Adoptee’s Journey Through Grief to Gratitude” by a fellow blogger (Linda Hoye) and “No Mark Upon Her” a mystery by one of my favorite novelists–Deborah Crombie. So many books, so little time. And all those books offering to take us into an adventure that wouldn’t have been ours without those pages on which are printed squiggles of words. I so love reading and your enthusiasm for books has helped keep mine alive. Thank you. Peace.
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Now, Dee, you have given my list a few more interesting titles to pursue. Are we not fortunate to have this wonderful avenue to discuss and share books? As you say, so many books, so little time. I’m so glad you enjoy reading me, Dee. You’ve mentioned Deborah Crombie before. I need to pursue her work.
Off I go – to dust my books.
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Hello Penny,
Late getting to the computer as we are making last minute preparations for a potential hit from Isaac. But now we have a generator if we lose electricity! It is an early Christmas gift to each other.
I haven’t thought of “I Capture the Castle” in a long time but it is a favorite. Thanks for reminding me so I may re-read it.
One of my favorite first lines is from “The Great Gatsby” as Fitzgerald writes, “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” …”just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
As usual, you wrote a lovely review. Take care and don’t let those book piles fall on you!
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Oh, Marilyn, I didn’t realize you are now in harm’s way as Isaac pushes through. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers – and hope you don’t need to use that early Christmas gift.
That is a good bit of wisdom in a memorable first line. Thank you for sharing it here.
Thank you, Marilyn, and I will be cautious when passing my book piles.
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Well, I do have a copy of “I Capture the Castle” languishing on a bookshelf. Somehow the idea that I actually own a book makes me think that I have all the time in the world to read it; ergo, it languishes. Perhaps I am saving them, and there are quite a few languishers, just in case I develop chronic insomnia, get snowed in, or am bedridden with a broken toe (I can’t bear to think about any broken bone bigger than a toe).
Even with all the languishers, I still went to a book fair on Friday and bought six more books:
http://bellebookandcandle.blogspot.com/2012/08/have-i-stayed-too-long-at-fair.html
Sigh. It is a blessing and a curse.
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A blessing and a curse, indeed! That is an interesting way of justifying owning books and I shall adopt it right now. One never knows when a toe will break and must always be prepared for these events.
What a nice haul you made at the book fair – and it sounds like a very nice weekend.
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I have read that book and loved it. You used the perfect word for it, enchanting. I love the beginning that you quoted. I’ll have to think about my favorite lines from books, there are so many! That would make a good blog post…
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That would make an interesting post, Sunday. I hope you do that soon (I’ll think of another favorite line). I Capture the Castle is a lovely book, filled with such evocative prose. Smith captured Cassandra perfectly.
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Oh, Penny! Do I have a stack of books languishing! I have yet to figure out how to find more time to read…blogging seems to have eaten into my reserves! 🙂 I would love to read this book. I enjoyed the movie and I’m sure the book makes an even greater impact! I wonder if Rachel will continue her reviews now that she’s moving into another career. I’m now curious about her too! 🙂 D
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Blogging does have that tendency, doesn’t it Debra. I think you would enjoy “I Capture the Castle”. I’m anxious now to see the movie. Dodie Smith wrote another book I want to read sometime – “101 Dalmations”. I’m curious to find out how it was written and how very different it must be from the Disney version. Will we ever have enough time?
I do so hope that Rachel continues her reviews. They are such a pleasure to read.
I hope the quakes have subsided there.
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Sounds a lovely read, Penny, about a family I could envisage myself getting on with.
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Oh, I do think you would like this, Kate, especially the castle, with its moat and tower and and all things that go with an old castle and a 40’s family.
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