On An Aristocrat's Bookshelf: Alexandra Stoddard

The lady, herself

If there is one author or lifestyle philosopher with whom I had to identify, I think I would choose Alexandra Stoddard. Mrs. Stoddard started her life as an interior decorator but has expanded into a series of books explaining how to live your life more joyously, to how to decorate your house, to how to have deeper and better relationships with the people in your life.

Her books are especially precious to me because the two that I own were owned previously by my mother and inspired her to decorate the beautiful house that I grew up in. I learned many skills of how to be a gracious entertainer, decent interior designer and generally elegant from my mother. And as I read through Mrs. Stoddard's books I am reminded again and again of aspects from my childhood.

Now, Mrs. Stoddard is a wealthy, white Interior designer in New York from the 80's. From what I can tell, her life was a privileged one and her idea of saving money during college was to skip a lunch on the town so she could by a fresh flower for her dorm room. If only these belt tightening techniques applied to all of us...

Some of her interior decorating advice is dated, some of her lifestyle advice is laughably naive to the complexities of the less affluent world (I'm never going to import notebooks from England, no matter how pretty they might be), but over all her books are full of inspirational advice about making the little things in our life beautiful- even if it requires a little more effort.

She also highlights the importance of putting yourself first in situations. You can't give to others (the end goal) if you do not have any energy or love to give. You must build up your inner resources before you can help others. Must make sure that you are happy and at peace before spreading the happiness and peace to the rest of the world.

Finally, she embraces the small details (the setting of a table, the arranging of fresh flowers, of writing thank yous) as the ultimate goal of humanity. It is through the small acts that the larger ideals are realized. This is a satisfying and unusual sentiment in today's world.

So while Mrs. Stoddard's books and advice do lack some of the raw passion which underlies our world and are occasional impractical even laughable, over all they  give a philosophy of the world that, if not improving the world, certainly does make it a better place. When I read her books I am encouraged to pick up my room, take special effort with my note cards, and be kinder to people. Perhaps I finally found a devotional for myself.

Who acts as your inspiration? Where do you look for strength to go through each day?

On an Aristocrats Bookshelf: The Intellectual Devotional

Found on Amazon.com 

I both despise books like these and acknowledge their use. Perhaps, holding two opposite opinions about the same thing is a sign of maturity. Either way, it is frustrating to neither be able to outright recommend or condemn this book.

The tag line reads: "The Intellectual Devotional: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education  and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class." Now this appealed to my eleven year old mind who often found herself at a loss at cocktail parties when the conversation moved to the works of Francisco Goya, the Metals, Nonmetals ad Metalloids of the Periodic Table, or Shakespeare's 18th Sonnet. Intending to avail myself of this new font of information, I was reassured that soon I too would be able to revive my then decrepit mind, complete my education (and thus skipping the supposed horrors of middle and high school and the delights of then impossibly far off college), and amaze the Cultured Class of Podunk Northwest with my great command of all of human knowledge.  (Yes, I was a strange child. I clearly remember this being a goal.)

Naturally, I began in great earnest, grew bored quite promptly, and forgot the book ever existed with in a month of skipping through and reading only the Science sections. Now, upon returning home one vacation, I stumbled across the book again and read through it more avidly and critically.

If you are unfamiliar with the concept, a devotional is a book, usually spiritual, which is intended to be read daily- either upon waking or falling asleep. It is a tool for personal growth by presenting one simple idea to be digested and thought upon a day. This particular version has divided the humanities into seven different topics, one for each day of the week. Monday is history, Tuesday is literature  Wednesday is the  Visual Arts, Thursday is Science, Friday is Music, Saturday is Philosophy, and Sunday is Religion. For instance in a single week a reader will read a single page on The Spread of Islam, Joseph Heller's "Catch 22," The Cathedral of Notre Dame of Paris, The Placebo Effect, Form (music), Matter/Form Theory (Philosophy), and finally Moses. An impressive array, no?

As an overview of the humanities, as a tool to show the spread of information in the world, as an introduction to topics to study in depth later on, as a starting point to the overwhelming mass of human culture that exists in the Western World- this book is great. Wonderful. I just recently read the page on Sonatas and am eager to learn more about musical theory. They didn't do a terrible job laying down the basics of epistemology.

However during a conversation about Cervantes's 'Don Quixote  I caught a member of my family quoting from the devotional. Pressing them further revealed that they had not read the book and, after reading the plot summery and a few thematic details in the devotional, considered themselves well versed enough to never need to.

And this, my dear readers, is why the idea of an Intellectual Devotional of any kind fills me with a burning rage. Because a single page summery is not a substitute for reading the book, looking at the art, studying  the subject, or listening to the music. In no way are you an expert after reading these entries.

And yet, so many people think that reading an overview, a plot summery, a brief history and being able to contribute a single interesting fact is enough for conversation and life.

It is not.

It is not even close.

Knowledge takes work and effort. Good art should change your soul, not fill your mind with trivia. Ideas should have significance rather than talking points. In the course of history, people have sweated, ached, fought and died for these ideas and they should deserve more care than a page in some pointless little book for the clifts-note culture to try and gain sophistication.

With the greatest irony, in summery: if you can use this book as a general overview, i recommend it. If, however, you would use it as an excuse not to do real work to develop your mind with great art, then don't go near it. Better to be ignorant than have pretensions of knowledge.

On an Aristocrat's Bookshelf: Ivan Turgenev

Ivan Turgenev in a Beautiful Library

Turgenev is not one of those names that spring readily to mind when most think of great Russian Literature. (At least, in my circles, this is the case.) Perhaps this is for a reason- Turgenev does not have the same sweeping grandeur or philosophical treatises as Tolstoy. Perhaps he does not deal with matters so weighty as Dostoevsky nor as shocking as Nabokov. No devil has yet appeared in human form in his books- that I have recognized. If anything, he is the Russian Jane Austen.

Despite this, in the past few days Turgenev has become one of my favorite authors.   As part of my Summer Reading, I've been choosing a much wider variety of books than normal. Turgenev's First Love sat on the local library shelf. I picked it up on a whim, read the back, read the first couple of pages, and was sold. A book about Russian Aristocracy, dealing with concerns of love and well created main heroines? What isn't to love?

Turgenev's main strength is how accessible he is- much like Austen. The Penguin Classic's translator is lucid and, apparently  does great credit to Turgenev's writing. His characters are well formed and interesting. Their conflicts- mostly internal struggles- are exciting to read. Just enough is left out of the exposition that the reader has to work to fill in some of the details- a trait missing in many American authors.

But what charmed me the most about First Love is that his charming characters are actually charming. Too many times have I read stories where social, charming, captivating characters are so not because of their actions or words, but because of their descriptions or the rather false reactions of other characters. I actually liked Turganev's heroines- which is a feat for writing about the 1840's. Their actions were charming, I could see why they ensnared the attentions of many men. Yet, they weren't obnoxious or cloying.

In short, I highly recommend this author. You have the satisfaction of reading a classic, but reading it for pleasure rather than obligation. His characters are delightful to observe and you feel a real pathos.

On an Aristocrat's Bookshelf: This Summer's Reading Challenge

Starting today, I will read a minimum 30 hours a week.

Yes, this comes out to 4 hours and 20 minutes a day.

Yes, this is the equivalent of picking up a part time job.

Yes, the time I will spend in class per week is but half of this goal.

One day my library will contain books like this

Yes, I am looking at my schedule and wondering why I am typing this number and not something more manageable like 10. Or, say, 5.

But there are two facts and one revelation that strengthen my resolve.

First, I am bored in school. Despite the assurances that it will get better, the improvement isn't scheduled until next fall. In the mean time I have only 15 credits to keep me occupied. Rather than suffer under the malaise of wondering if my best mental years are behind me, I'm going to do something difficult and challenging.

Second, Nicholas Nassim Taleb claims to have read for 30 to 60 hours a week all through his schooling. Since he is my current hero and because he claims that this reading has led him to his amazing ideas of Anti-fragility and Black Swans (titles of his books. Read them), I'll do the same.

Third, said author mentioned in that time that he never forced himself to finish a book. He read until it kept his interest and if he didn't understand something or found it too technically difficult, he moved on to something else rather than struggling through it.

That is the revelation. You are under no obligation to finish a book that bores you. None. How many times have I stalled in my reading because a plot didn't capture my interest or the subject matter was a little too technical? How many times have I put off picking up new books because I had so many half started?

You don't need to worry about that. Because this is extra curricular reading, there is no dead line, no necessity to finish. Who cares if it is one of the "greatest works of literature of all time?" Who cares if your friend swears you'll love it? If it doesn't capture your interest, there are thousands of other books out there that will.

Challenge details:

The University of Coimbra General Library, Coimbra, Portugal 

Challenge: To read for 30 hours each week.

Cost: none. I'll rely on many, many trips to the local library and the books I already have.

Specifications: Read only books that have been published at some point. (Alas, no fanfiction). Books can either be physical or electronic. Books can be from any genre and do not necessarily need to be "challenging" in and of themselves. Readings for school, outside of class, and for the first time will count. Books do not need to be on my book list, though crossing some of those off would be nice.

How to implement: I'll take most of the time from the time I spend online. Wake up  a little earlier and reach for my book rather than the computer. Bring books to bed and to school.

Foreseen problems: Feeling pressured to read rather than actually getting enjoyment for the story. If this happens too often, I'll stop. The 30 will be a loose goal not a fixed amount and I'll adjust as needed.

Foreseen consequences: I'll have to be more efficient with my correspondence and blogging. Not to mention school work. Fewer pictures with the blog and more posts about books and literature.

Re-evaluation times: I'll do a quick re-evaluation in a weeks time and post about that.

Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge

Would anyone care to join me in this challenge? If not, this would be a great time for book suggestions!