Category: reflection

‘Tales of the Otori’ by Lian Hearn

I forgot to name my good friend Carmel, when I was mentioning friends I was grateful for. She was lumped in with my work mates. She has leant me book 4 of the ‘Tales of the Otori’ series, ‘The Harsh Cry of the Heron’. Carmel was my daughter’s homeroom teacher when she started at secondary school and a real role model for her. When I started at the school I work at we soon became good friends. She’d come highly recommended.
Tales of the Otori
I have thoroughly enjoyed the entire series I’ve loaned from Carmel so far.
‘Across the Nightingale Floor’, ‘Grass for His Pillow’ and ‘Brilliance of the Moon’ were all wonderful and I look forward to reading this latest one. There is a new book ‘Heavens Net is Wide’ that goes back to the start. I will savour these ending and beginning books as I did Harry Potter.
Lian Hearn
Lian Hearn lives in Australia, yet these books are based in Japan. She weaves the landscape and mythology well and I learnt a lot from these books that helped me to understand Feudal Japan.
My Book Pile Right Now….
I have a delicious pile of books I’m currently reading in addition to ‘The Harsh Cry of the Heron’. I have James Moloney’s ‘Master of the Books’ and it every bit as engrossing as ‘The Book of Lies‘. I have Maureen McCarthy’s ‘Rose By Any Other Name’ and I’m looking forward to that also. I have 7 other books in addition. Two of these I have began, yet put aside for these more compelling books. I may or may not get back to them!

Gone With the Wind

Helping my son with homework….
I must confess I have never helped my kids much with their homework. I don’t even check if they have done it. I believe it’s their homework, not mine. This weekend was an exception as Tom had to watch ‘Gone With the Wind‘. I was delighted to get the movie and Andy, Tom and I watched it together. It was Tom’s first viewing so Andy and I provided some explanations for him about what was going on in it. There is some great information on the web about ‘Gone With the Wind’. I loved the novel too. I haven’t read the sequel though ‘Scarlett‘. I think I might though.
A few surprises…
I was surprises by the things I had to explain, such as the concept of a ‘ruined’ woman who had gone unchaperoned and being ‘in mourning’ by wearing black. I guess I take for granted that those behaviours have disappeared.
My First Viewing
I remember the first time I went to see ‘Gone With the Wind’ with my mum, both grandmothers and Auntie Pat. It was probably my first of many nights out with the girls! I loved it and loved Scarlett. She was such a spirited woman. I have often used her line ‘I won’t think about that now. I’ll think about it tomorrow.’