Next pick: "The Accompanist"

This is a 1936 novella by Russian writer Nina Berberova, who lived in Paris between the two World Wars before moving to the States and a career teaching Russian literature at Yale and Princeton. I thought it looked intriguing (love! jealousy! desire! plotting!). First week of September?

Venice

Why do you think James set "The Aspern Papers" in Venice? What do you think the setting added to the story?

The papers

According to Wikipedia, Henry James "loathed publicity and zealously guarded his own privacy. A few years before his death he burned masses of old letters that he had received, and he often begged his correspondents not to publicize - or better yet, to destroy - the letters he sent to them."

What's your opinion of writers' private correspondence being dug up after their deaths to be analyzed publicly?

"The Aspern Papers"

What did you think of "The Aspern Papers"? Whom did you sympathize with: the narrator, seeking his literary holy grail? Miss Bordereau, guarding her cherished memories? Miss Tita, trying to find a life for herself?

Duck hunting

One of the parts that made me smile was the author's plan to "exterminate the duck" from one of his neighbors in the hospital (amplified because of his hearing disorder):

"I had a very young neighbor who was given a velveteen duck equipped with a sophisticated detection device. It emitted a reedy, piercing quack whenever anyone entered the room - in other words, twenty-five times a day. Luckily the little patient went home before I could carry out my plan to exterminate the duck."

Why in the world do parents give their children such obnoxious toys? Maybe it's just me, but toys seem to have become worse, not better, with technology. I especially loathe the contraptions that combine flashing lights with a rapid-fire dinging whenever the kid hits a button. Horrible!

Father's Day

What did you think of the author's family, especially that scene when they're coming to see him on Father's Day?

"Until my stroke, we had felt no need to fit this made-up holiday into our emotional calendar. But today we spend the whole of the symbolic day together, affirming that even a rough sketch, a shadow, a tiny fragment of a dad is still a dad."

I thought it was good that they decided not to sugarcoat reality, or even to keep him away from seeing his kids. Still, I can imagine how difficult it must be to see a loved one in that condition. I was very torn, I confess.

The art of simmering memories

I love that passage when Jean-Dominique describes his favorite food memories:

"Depending on my mood, I treat myself to a dozen snails, a plate of Alsatian sausage with sauerkraut, and a bottle of late-vintage golden Gewurztraminer; or else I savor a simple soft-boiled egg with fingers of toast and lightly salted butter. What a banquet! The yolk flows warmly over my palate and down my throat. And indigestion is never a problem."

(Ahh, now I'm getting hungry ... )

What's your favorite food memory(ies)? I'll go first, if you like:

Eating ice cream for the first time

I actually don't remember this, but my mom apparently does. She said I was a toddler at the time and went into a state of pure ecstasy, eyes closing and mouth opening for more. Hee hee...