T. Tembarom

So goes the first step of this project, something called T. Tembarom.  I have finished Elsie's book, and will attempt to discover what this title is and if I can read it still.  More to come.

A few hours later (with interruptions of errands and lunch with Chris) I have discovered this book to be by Francis Hodgson Burnett.  She authored such favorites as The Secret Garden, primarily a children's book author.  But she also wrote some adult fiction, this being one of those.  Am just starting the book, and will give thoughts after I'm done.

It has been over a month now since I started this book, and still I can't seem to finish it.  I have decided to give up once and for all.  Maybe it's the sign of our times, or maybe it's the sign of my own times, who knows for sure.  I found myself only reading it at night because it was sure to put me to sleep every time I picked it up; never has there been a greater cup of warm milk, or hot tea or hot bath before bed so to speak.    

My reason for wanting to do this project and read through these books was to get an idea of what 1920's literature was like; what a window into how they thought then, what their ideals were like.  While I recognize that during that time words were the only pictures they had, I found myself skipping through whole sections that would describe one thing, like how Tembarom got to have his name, or how he felt about his love interest.  It would go on and on for pages it seemed, repeating itself with different phrases or sometimes actually the same words I'd just read.  The concept of this story, how a penniless boy comes to inherit great wealth, did not settle well when he turned his nose up at the thought of all that money - such an unlikely response for anyone poor that it rang false to me.  I tried to suspend the bridge of disbelief here, in thinking that of course this is what everyone would hope their high-ground to be, but at some point it became ridiculous to me. Tembarom must prove himself to the love of his life, a woman who by all accounts in this story could have been his mother for how she "took care of him" and he raved on about it.  I am no light weight for sure, I tend to stick out the worst of story lines and b-rated movies just because I feel committed to seeing the characters through to their inevitably equally bad ends.  In this case, I can honestly say my curiosity has died for this book, and in giving up I am admitting how much I truly do not care about what happens.  And I might add, I cannot recall but maybe a handful of times I have picked up a book and never finished it. My first step into the journey of the 1920's mind has not left me eager for more.  Let's hope it gets better.

What I'm Doing Here

I am reading Elsie - Adventures of an Arizona Schoolteacher by Barbara Anne Waite, Elsie's granddaughter.  Elsie taught in Cornville and Williams AZ in the 1900's, and her diaries and letters are a facinating read.  I have decided to go on a journey myself, and first list all of the books Elsie mentions (there are so many!), and after I'm done reading her book, I attempt her reading list.  I will blog about my efforts at this project, but first I must list all of the titles! This could take some time, so expect to see me updating this list until I finish the book. This will be quite the challenge as she mentions sometimes only an author she is reading or a book title.  There will have to be some research that goes into finding each of these literary works, but I think it will be a fun project.  I will put stars next to the books representing how Elsie felt - although she didn't comment on each and every one. One star being Good, and three stars being highly "entertaining."

T. Tembarom (I'm assuming it's an author, not a book, have to look that up)
Hansel and Gretel (she read to her kids alot!)
The King's Highway by Madeline Willard
Quattrocentisteria
Adventure in Contentment by David Grayson **
Morte d' Arthur
Tristan and Iseult
The Gay Rebellion by R. Chamber * (Elsie thought this book was absurd)
The Little Lame Prince
Isaiah - Moulton's edition
Joseph Vance ***
Marie Claire ***
Ladies' Home Journal article "How May a Girl Know"
Green Bough
Alice in Wonderland
Oenone and Lady of Shallot by Tennyson ***
Lady of the Fountain (also Tennyson??)
The Girl with the Green Eyes by Clyde Fitch **
The Servant in the House ***
Treasure Island
Light that Failed (sad, not inspiring)
Twinkling of an Eye
Adonais
The Purple Stockings
Count of Monte Cristo
The Inside of the Cup ***
Trelawney of the Wells
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Gray
Quo Vadis (she skipped parts of this one)
Paola & Francesca
Francesca da Rimini *** (few books show so wild love)
Faust
Aucassin and Nicolette
Legend of Sleepy Hollow
My Friend from India
Chanticleer
The Joy of Living
Last Days of Pompeii
Waverley - short story??
The supremacy of Jesus
Berlin & Sans-Souci by Muhlbach (love stories)
The God are Good - play
Princess by Tennyson
Rob Roy by Scott??
Compensation by Emerson
American Literature
Courage of the Commonplace by Mary R.S. Andrews
Myths
English and American History of Literature
Alhambra
Ancient Mariner
Talisman by Scott??
Vicar of Wakefield
Waif of the Plains by Bret Harte
Plain Tales from the Hills by Kipling
Light of Western Stars by Zane Gray
Amethyst Box by Arma K. Green
Autobiography by Frankilin??
Silas Marner
Lower Depths by M. Gorky
David Copperfield
Guardian Angel by Holmes ***
Les Miserables
Bleak House by Dickens **
The Marble Faun
Daughter of Joris by D'Annunzio
Rhymes and Jingles by W.W. Bass
Tale of Two Cities
Mill on the Floss **
Ivanhoe
History of the English People by Green
South Sea Tales
Call of the Wild
The Lady of the Lake
Woman in the Alcove by A.K. Green
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Pollyanna Grown Up
Dreams
Idylls of the King by Tennyson