Gaudy Night: chapters 7 & 8
I am so sorry to be so late and no excuse to offer. *hides face in shame* Mea culpa, as Saint George says when he spills the pastries.
Chapters: 7 & 8
Brief synopsis: Harriet the Ghost Hunter spends a goodly amount of time in the library following the model of many scholars of my acquaintance catching up on sleep researching Sheridan Lefanu and organizing Miss Lydgate's proofs. To further underscore her scholarly disguise, she presents a 'talk' to a collection of rather charmingly snarky 'undergraduettes' (!) with whom she has coffee (read: gossip) afterward. Since they are Third Years, they are able from this lofty height to describe the Byzantine tale of passion and woe that apparently is going on amongst the Second Years - where one Miss Flaxman has stolen a man from the rather unfortunately named Miss Cattermole... and unsatisfied with this, is indicating that Cattermole may in fact be the College Poltergeist. Cattermole does what many would do in similar situation and goes out and gets so plastered that she has to be escorted back to college by a Mr. Pomfret (which also happens to be the name of a fish... there seems to be some kind of animal naming theme going on here) who falls for Harriet with a resounding crash that could probably be heard for miles, except it is marginally obscured by the sound of Cattermole vomiting into the bushes, which is understandably distracting. As they are trundling Cattermole back to her rooms in a protean Walk of Shame, Harriet discovers another 'prank' - this time, it's a dummy dressed in a perfectly hideous sounding frock (black with red and green poppies!) and an MA gown (provenance unknown) with a classical quotation in Virgilian hexameter about harpies pinned to its chest with a bread knife!
This means that Cattermole is definitely NOT the ghost (too busy getting drunk & party crashing) - but the Senior Common Room remains in question, especially since Harriet is sure that she can eliminate the scouts - after all, they're not likely to have a classical education (OR ARE THEY???) and wouldn't be able to quote quite so aptly. After engaging in various outings with Pomfret & co., preventing a blackmail scheme by Jukes (who we'll recall was dismissed from Shrewsbury for stealing), informing Annie Robinson of Jukes's calumny and making some pithy & metatastic observations on the detective novel and its relevance to the post WWI generation, Harriet is in need of sustenance and ventures out for some tasty meringues - when she bumps (literally) into the equally delectable Viscount Saint George, Lord Peter's nephew, who we last saw as a ten year old “Pickled Gherkins” (what a nickname!) in one of the short stories. She recognizes him as a connection of Peter's (by the hands! And also probably the insane babbling) and he manages to totally blow up his uncle's spot in every way possible, including but not limited to revealing Peter's past, um, association with a Viennese singer. Harriet, luckily, is actually amused.
Wtf 1930s Oxford?: What's the difference between a 'scholar' and a 'commoner' besides the short gown? What horrible concoction is a 'hobnailed-liver' and why are hangover remedies so invariably disgusting? What is the deal with debagging-- we know it's the act of 'de-pantsing' but why? And why is it called that?
References:
1. 'a man where nae man should be' - from Childs' English and Scottish Ballads;
2. "Groupists drink cocoa . . . But they are oh! So tender to the failings of others." The Oxford Group, a Christian organization that, like many before and many to follow, emphasized its focus on God and Christ over such things as worship rituals, hierarchies, agendas or leaders. Founded by American missionary Frank Buchman in 1908, the movement emphasized adopting four absolutes -- honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. The "Oxford Group" label came from press acounts of a students' trip to South Africa, and it stuck. The group's beliefs influenced the founders of Alcoholics Anonymnous. Prior to World War II, the group changed its name to Moral Rearmament.
3. tristius haud illis monstrum nec saevior ulla pestis et ira deum Stygiis sese extulit undis. Virginei volucrum vultus foedissima ventris proluvies uncaeque manus et pallida semper ora fame. is from Virgil's Aeneid, lines 214-218 and translates to No prodigy / more vile than these, nor plague more pitiless/ ere rose by wrath divine from Stygian wave;/ birds seem they, but with face like woman-kind; / foul-flowing bellies, hands with crooked claws,/ and ghastly lips they have, with hunger pale;
4. "His lordship has drunk his bath and gone to bed again" is from Edward Spencer's "Cakes and Ale," (1913)Subtitled "A Dissertation of Banquets Interspersed with Various Recipes," the above quote is from an old story to describe the effects of good living: "Many sufferers will feel a loathing for any sort of food or drink, except cold water. 'The capting,' observed the soldier-servant to a visitor, "ain't very well this morning, sir; he've just drunk his bath, and gone to bed again.”
Discussion questions: Why does Harriet find gratitude so damnable? Is this book about learning to accept (and to give) things gracefully? I ♥ the line where Harriet says “we haven't got room for women who aren't and never will be scholars,” especially because in these chapters we see Harriet actually doing scholarship too (I love that she actually gets sucked in and puts together the monograph on Lefanu!) - but at the same time, Harriet is getting more and more certain that the Senior Common Room is behind the 'pranks' and she's getting more and more creeped out. Why this love-hate relationship with the ivory tower?
Insert-your-own category: Dreams of Peter Wimsey: 0 (but more noted in the breach, than in the observance, I think!) Saint George - hot? Not? Does Harriet think so - she's spending a lot of time with younger men all of a sudden! BEST BOOK EVER - y/y?
Chapters: 7 & 8
Brief synopsis: Harriet the Ghost Hunter spends a goodly amount of time in the library following the model of many scholars of my acquaintance catching up on sleep researching Sheridan Lefanu and organizing Miss Lydgate's proofs. To further underscore her scholarly disguise, she presents a 'talk' to a collection of rather charmingly snarky 'undergraduettes' (!) with whom she has coffee (read: gossip) afterward. Since they are Third Years, they are able from this lofty height to describe the Byzantine tale of passion and woe that apparently is going on amongst the Second Years - where one Miss Flaxman has stolen a man from the rather unfortunately named Miss Cattermole... and unsatisfied with this, is indicating that Cattermole may in fact be the College Poltergeist. Cattermole does what many would do in similar situation and goes out and gets so plastered that she has to be escorted back to college by a Mr. Pomfret (which also happens to be the name of a fish... there seems to be some kind of animal naming theme going on here) who falls for Harriet with a resounding crash that could probably be heard for miles, except it is marginally obscured by the sound of Cattermole vomiting into the bushes, which is understandably distracting. As they are trundling Cattermole back to her rooms in a protean Walk of Shame, Harriet discovers another 'prank' - this time, it's a dummy dressed in a perfectly hideous sounding frock (black with red and green poppies!) and an MA gown (provenance unknown) with a classical quotation in Virgilian hexameter about harpies pinned to its chest with a bread knife!
This means that Cattermole is definitely NOT the ghost (too busy getting drunk & party crashing) - but the Senior Common Room remains in question, especially since Harriet is sure that she can eliminate the scouts - after all, they're not likely to have a classical education (OR ARE THEY???) and wouldn't be able to quote quite so aptly. After engaging in various outings with Pomfret & co., preventing a blackmail scheme by Jukes (who we'll recall was dismissed from Shrewsbury for stealing), informing Annie Robinson of Jukes's calumny and making some pithy & metatastic observations on the detective novel and its relevance to the post WWI generation, Harriet is in need of sustenance and ventures out for some tasty meringues - when she bumps (literally) into the equally delectable Viscount Saint George, Lord Peter's nephew, who we last saw as a ten year old “Pickled Gherkins” (what a nickname!) in one of the short stories. She recognizes him as a connection of Peter's (by the hands! And also probably the insane babbling) and he manages to totally blow up his uncle's spot in every way possible, including but not limited to revealing Peter's past, um, association with a Viennese singer. Harriet, luckily, is actually amused.
Wtf 1930s Oxford?: What's the difference between a 'scholar' and a 'commoner' besides the short gown? What horrible concoction is a 'hobnailed-liver' and why are hangover remedies so invariably disgusting? What is the deal with debagging-- we know it's the act of 'de-pantsing' but why? And why is it called that?
References:
1. 'a man where nae man should be' - from Childs' English and Scottish Ballads;
2. "Groupists drink cocoa . . . But they are oh! So tender to the failings of others." The Oxford Group, a Christian organization that, like many before and many to follow, emphasized its focus on God and Christ over such things as worship rituals, hierarchies, agendas or leaders. Founded by American missionary Frank Buchman in 1908, the movement emphasized adopting four absolutes -- honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. The "Oxford Group" label came from press acounts of a students' trip to South Africa, and it stuck. The group's beliefs influenced the founders of Alcoholics Anonymnous. Prior to World War II, the group changed its name to Moral Rearmament.
3. tristius haud illis monstrum nec saevior ulla pestis et ira deum Stygiis sese extulit undis. Virginei volucrum vultus foedissima ventris proluvies uncaeque manus et pallida semper ora fame. is from Virgil's Aeneid, lines 214-218 and translates to No prodigy / more vile than these, nor plague more pitiless/ ere rose by wrath divine from Stygian wave;/ birds seem they, but with face like woman-kind; / foul-flowing bellies, hands with crooked claws,/ and ghastly lips they have, with hunger pale;
4. "His lordship has drunk his bath and gone to bed again" is from Edward Spencer's "Cakes and Ale," (1913)Subtitled "A Dissertation of Banquets Interspersed with Various Recipes," the above quote is from an old story to describe the effects of good living: "Many sufferers will feel a loathing for any sort of food or drink, except cold water. 'The capting,' observed the soldier-servant to a visitor, "ain't very well this morning, sir; he've just drunk his bath, and gone to bed again.”
Discussion questions: Why does Harriet find gratitude so damnable? Is this book about learning to accept (and to give) things gracefully? I ♥ the line where Harriet says “we haven't got room for women who aren't and never will be scholars,” especially because in these chapters we see Harriet actually doing scholarship too (I love that she actually gets sucked in and puts together the monograph on Lefanu!) - but at the same time, Harriet is getting more and more certain that the Senior Common Room is behind the 'pranks' and she's getting more and more creeped out. Why this love-hate relationship with the ivory tower?
Insert-your-own category: Dreams of Peter Wimsey: 0 (but more noted in the breach, than in the observance, I think!) Saint George - hot? Not? Does Harriet think so - she's spending a lot of time with younger men all of a sudden! BEST BOOK EVER - y/y?