tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987833642789740989.post7266550685608909067..comments2023-03-25T14:41:36.885+00:00Comments on esther in the garden: GOODBYE SNAILEsther Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05412078991551799972noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987833642789740989.post-77813422894580556052008-05-16T15:28:00.000+01:002008-05-16T15:28:00.000+01:00Kate - I've ordered 'The Enchanted April' and 'E...Kate - I've ordered 'The Enchanted April' and 'Elizabeth and her German Garden' from our library.<BR/><BR/>I've also ordered 'Father' - but that will have to come from outside the county so it will take longer to arrive.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the recommendations.<BR/><BR/>EstherEsther Montgomeryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05412078991551799972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987833642789740989.post-80771743086002480312008-05-14T17:52:00.000+01:002008-05-14T17:52:00.000+01:00Believe me I wouldn't have typed it out if I'd had...Believe me I wouldn't have typed it out if I'd had another option. :) That one (<I>Father</I>) is hardish to find (in digital or paper form); easier ones include <I>The Enchanted April</I>, <I>The Caravaners</I>, <I>Elizabeth and Her German Garden</I>, etc. <A HREF="http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/a" REL="nofollow">Project Gutenberg</A> has several online texts -- I recommend beginning (if you're so inclined) with <A HREF="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/16389" REL="nofollow"> <I>The Enchanted April</I></A>, although it's not specifically garden-related. (If you hadn't a garden of your own, I'd push you toward <I>German Garden</I>, <I>Solitary Summer</I>, or <I>Father</I>; but you're not so flora-starved to need those emergently.). I think you'll also see quite a bit of Ming in many of von Arnim's husband characters (the most Mingish of whom are based on -- you guessed it -- actual husbands). :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987833642789740989.post-61834719528599728112008-05-14T00:47:00.000+01:002008-05-14T00:47:00.000+01:00Kate - I didn't know this - and am so glad tha...Kate - I didn't know this - and am so glad that I do now.<BR/><BR/>The extract you have given is beautiful - absolutely brilliant writing.<BR/><BR/>I'll have to find and read the whole thing.<BR/><BR/>And I truly appreciate that you typed it out.<BR/><BR/>Thank you!<BR/><BR/>EstherEsther Montgomeryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05412078991551799972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987833642789740989.post-18171574240319895132008-05-14T00:26:00.000+01:002008-05-14T00:26:00.000+01:00It took me a little while to find this, but I fina...It took me a little while to find this, but I finally did:<BR/><BR/><I>...in the Rose Cottage garden were many snails, and Jen, not knowing what to do with them, but sure they oughtn't to be left where they were, collected them at odd moments into her skirt, and carrying them carefully to the low wall gently tipped them over into the churchyard.</I><BR/><BR/><I>At first she had misgivings, but soon got used to it. The snails had to go somewhere, and where else could they go? The other side of the churchyard wall was the one really convenient spot. Nobody could see them. They were hidden snugly in long grass behind a tombstone; and while snails, she had read, were death to gardens, they couldn't possibly do any harm to a place so dead already as a churchyard. James wouldnm't mind, she was sure, even if he saw them, which he never would unless he went deliiberately to look, and God, Who had made snails, couldn't, for that reason, she reflected, mind either.</I><BR/><BR/><I>So over the wall they were gently tipped; and the heap grew and grew, because it was a nice cool thing collecting snails in the shade, and whenever she wanted a rest from digging she went and fetched a few more skirtsful. And since from the getting rid of snails to the getting rid of other superfluities there is but a step, she soon, becoming callous, proceeded to eggshells and sardine-tins; and it was when she was disposing of her third sardine-tin that Mr. Devenish saw her.</I><BR/><BR/>--From <I>Father</I> (1931, E. von Arnim)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8987833642789740989.post-84867977345049701832008-05-14T00:03:00.000+01:002008-05-14T00:03:00.000+01:00You remind me of Elizabeth von Arnim. You'd like ...You remind me of Elizabeth von Arnim. You'd like her, if you don't already know about her. I'm sure about this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com