I loved this book!.....I am a Von Arnim fan

17 years ago

As many of you may remember, I am the one who loves, loves, loves to read anything written by the wonderful, witty Elizabeth Von Arnim ( The Enchanted April).

I have made it my goal to collect all of her works in original old editions!

I have recently read one which is outstanding!

If you can possibly find a copy of CHRISTOPHER AND COLUMBUS you must read it. It is the hilarious story ( as only Von Arnim can write it) of 17 year old girl twins and their bachelor guardian written in 1919.) I am constantly amazed and thoroughly entertained by her talent.

As did The Enchanted April, this book would make a fabulous movie.

Hope you can find and read it.

Let me know what you think.

Yvonne

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Comments (9)

mwoods
17 years ago
Thanks...I'll keep an eye out for it. I stumbled upon Elizabeth And Her German Garden in a used book shop years ago and when I read it I was hooked on Van Arnim. Then I bought Enchanted April which has to be one of my all time favorite movies as well as books. It always sucks me right in to that wonderful Italian countryside and way of life. Now I have to read Christopher and Columbus.
rosefolly
17 years ago
I found a paperback copy of Elizabeth and Her German Garden, bought and read it. I have also read Enchanted April and love the movie. When it comes out on DVD I'll buy it. Thanks for posting another title to watch for.

Paula
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pay it forward: no need to get off your "soap box" as you started this thread ! I read a story on naturalnews.com about a woman who got in trouble with her "home owners" assoc. and the local gov't. for planting vegetables on her lawn. Well the short and long of it is Gary Null took up her case and the telephone calls of outrage started...I vow that if I get any land kale will be the "lawn" and hedgehogs, red squirrels, hares etc. will have their own "wilderness" somewhere on the edges for food foraging. It's the best way to keep them out of "your" food. Speaking of a plant based diet, I made yellow split pea dahl with spinach/brown rice and yoghurt with cucumber/cumin for dinner. Simple. Delicious. I recommend any of Madhur Jaffrey's books for Indian food. Since Indians eat a lot of legume/vegetable based dishes it's great cuisine for vegetarians. Greek and Italian are great for vegetable dishes too. Let me know if you would like any author names, I collect cookbooks so I know many that have great vegetable recipes. I eat as many vegetable dishes as possible although I'm not currently vegetarian. "I never met a vegetable I didn't like"--my quote. I get yelled at for buying too many b/c they don't fit in the fridge...some people buy clothes I buy karela :)
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My problems have been relatively minor so far. Demo started last Monday. On the first day, the power went off in my neighborhood for two hours. Not my GC's fault. This was, however, an omen. I had told the GC that I wanted the wall oven lower because I'm short, and he said he'd keep it at the same height as the current one. But, in fact, he raised it 6 inches. That one I caught in the framing stage, so he's fixing it. I think he forgot. Then he asked me as he was heading out to buy lights, did I want black or white UC lights. He recommended white, I'm not good with quick decisions (why I read GW for months) and said OK. Before I could tell him I really thought I'd rather have black, the white was installed (it was the same day - at least he's quick). That wasn't really his fault - I should have asked for time to decide. But we did discuss where to place the recessed lights, since the joist ran right where they should go, so they could be too close or too far from the cabinets, and I'm quite sure we had decided on too far, but he installed them, instead, too close. If this was due to a decision on his part, shouldn't he have mentioned it to me? I think he forgot again, and it was the same day. But I didn't notice until the ceiling drywall was done, so too late! The most recent thing is not really his fault, except indirectly. I'm donating the cabs and metal stuff to Habitat for Humanity Restore. They said they would be selling the oven for scrap, which was a shame, but at least it wasn't going to the landfill. When the GC demo'd, he put the oven in the driveway instead of the garage with the rest, and I reminded him that it was being donated (I'm seeing a pattern of forgetting here). I knew it was very heavy, so I told him that it was OK to leave it there - it was up by the garage, behind the dumpster, not easily visible from the street, and it didn't matter if it was rained on, but I told him to be sure not to put it in the dumpster. That was last week. Habitat comes tomorrow. Today, while my teenage daughter was home alone, a man and woman in a pickup truck came up the driveway with a dolley and took the oven, wheeling it between the dumpster and our Buick Rendezvous. My DD called my DH, who doesn't ever listen to me when I tell him what is going on, and he told her it was OK if someone could use it. She was afraid to go out and say anything to these people anyway - she's only 13. So my beloved oven was stolen by scrappers. I understand if something is at the curb, it's fair game, but no one should walk up your driveway and spend 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get an double oven into their pickup truck. I'm really PO'd. So it's been only 7 days of remodel, and I can't wait to see what's going to happen next. From now on, every piddling thing is going to be in writing. Still, my stories are nowhere near as bad as all of yours. Clearly, no amount of planning - or wine - is ever enough.
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Walls. Oh, dear deity, walls. I can remember buying my first home--as a single person, I was looking at condos. My guess is that 99.999% of condos just plunk the kitchen in a corner of the living room, adding a counter/eating bar to create "separation." My agent had a hard time understanding that I wanted a kitchen that was a separate room. Open concept may be great for entertaining or if you have kids. But I am home alone a lot more than I entertain and I don't have kids. What I want is walls to contain the noise of the dishwasher and doors to keep cooking odors contained. The idea of having the kitchen in the living room and the smells and grease getting into my nice furniture is not appealing. And there's the dirty dishes issues, as expressed by lavender lass. There are mornings I don't have time to wash my cereal bowl before dashing out to work. There are days when I eat dinner and just want to collapse. So while the dishes get done promptly most days, some days they don't. And I don't want to curl up in the living room to relax and have those dirty dishes staring at me from across the room, reminding me that I'm being lazy.
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Its 1 :25 am and I'm with the night owls. I was laid off at 66 and was dispirited. Looked for jobs, not much luck. So I accepted that unemployment was actually early retirement. Less than a year later a friend called about an opening in her agency in my field. It is a great fit: about 10-15 hours a week. I only go into the office (which is 20 minutes away) 1 x 2weeks, nearly everything can be communicated and documented by secure email and text. I miss the chatting life of more collegial time in an office, but I treasure setting my own schedule. As long as my patients get seen on time and my documentation and time sheets are on time no one 'bothers' me. I'm still contributing to society and (modestly) to family income. I have lots of time and flexibility for those ever increasing doctors' and physical therapy appointments. Gotta keep the mojo working if I want to work. My house is still a mess because neither dh nor I are neatniks and actually don't care a lot about "everything in its place". I mean, it would be nice, but it takes so much valuable time! Rouge, your days and nights will take on a shape of their own. You can nudge things however you want. Eventually a routine might emerge. My thoughts are: make new friends, keep up with old ones and participate in some sort of group activity: exercise class, bridge, book group, civic organizations. For me, they are a welcome change from being at home. I came across the seeds you sent months ago. Still in their little envelope, waiting for spring, like me.Marie
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cindydavid4
17 years ago
I think it was C&C which first turned me on to Von Arnim. Happened upon the title in the Common Reader catalogue. Once I read that one, I went on to read anything else she wrote. This is a fun witty and delightful read. BTW I seem to remember ABE having several copies, last time I looked for someone.
ginny12
17 years ago
I have all of her books, tho EGG is the most significant to me. Be sure to read the sequel, The Solitary Summer, and, if you can find it, The April Baby's Book of Tunes, not a children's book despite the title. That was illustrated by Kate Greenaway and is therefore somewhat expensive. Last book Kate G. did before she died (and what an interesting life she had!)

The other very compelling book Elizabeth did is Mr. Skeffington, her last. It was made into a movie starring my fav, Bette Davis. In real life, Elizabeth had great trepidation about the Germans and feared WW2 would result in catastrophe. She carried suicide materials with her at all times, in case the Germans won! A cannister of cyanide gas, at one point. Moved to the US when the war brok out in Europe in Sept 1939 and died at the Doubleday family's winter home in South Carolina. Her remains were returned to England after the war. Quite an intriguing woman.

And you might like Vera, a novel and account of her second marriage to Bertrand Russell's brother. He sued her for libel but she threatened to tell even more on the stand so he withdrew his suit. She never divorced him--I think she loved being a countess--because she said staying married (tho apart) would prevent any other woman from suffering from a marriage to him!
mummsie
16 years ago
A new book, Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Portraits of Married Life in London Literary Circles 1910-1939 by Katie Roiphe, includes the marriage of the Countess Von Arnim and her husband, John Russell.

Here is a link that might be useful: Uncommon Arrangements (NY Times)
veer
16 years ago
I've never read any von Arnim but have made a note of Uncommon Arrangements and will try and persuade the library to buy a copy. Thanks Mummsie.
pam53
16 years ago
I recently bought All The Dogs Of My Life-haven't read it yet but I am also a Von Arnim fan.
ginny12
16 years ago
That's a great tip. Thank you, Mummsie.
georgia_peach
16 years ago
I've been taking inventory of my books deciding what to purge and what to keep. I had some old books boxed in a closet and went through them. Imagine my surprise to discover Mr. Skeffington by Elizabeth. Had I not remembered the various Von Arnim threads here, I wouldn't have realized who Elizabeth was.

I loved this book!.....I am a Von Arnim fan

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mwoods

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