Thursday, August 9, 2012

An Assignment


Staff at the branch library, where I am employed as a circulation clerk, are welcome to create a display of their choosing to decorate a slat wall.  Topics such as humour, fitness for seniors and healthy eating have provided customers with no end of choice reading material lately.  Those of you who know me will not be surprised to learn that my eye was cast in another direction.  While it would have been oh so tempting to create a display called "Books That I Adore" and run merrily through the stacks pulling titles that have made me laugh, cry and wax lyrical, the display should appeal to as many of the population as possible.  No more than ten seconds passed before there was a twinkle in my eye.

Over the past year my somewhat intact sense of etiquette has been tested again and again when lovely patrons, completely unaware of what goes on beyond our borders, have asked "Have you heard of a show called Downton Abbey?"  The poor things have no idea that I have watched every episode drinking copious amounts of tea while snacking on tea bread made by my very own self from the Fortnum & Mason recipe.  If I owned an Edwardian tea gown and corset I wouldn't be beyond changing my attire for the occasion.  Thinking about it, there is still time before series three to whip something up...hmmm.  Anyway, some upstairs/downstairs and Edwardian era books would be just the thing to hold people over until the next series airs here in Canada. 

Searching the catalogue for ideas was a pleasure but also a bit disappointing at times when we didn't stock many of the wonderful titles that would have applied.  I thoroughly enjoyed The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate earlier this year but I wasn't about to cough up my own copy, sorry.  The past couple of weeks have been really satisfying, watching people browse the display and then tuck something under their arm.  Men love to flip through the Victoria Cross book but then place it back where they found it.  Oh well, you can lead a horse to water, as they say.  Back in the inner sanctum that is our staff room I have been squirreling away replacement books and dvds to fill in any gaps.  My friend and colleague, Liz, has been doing her best to sign out material as fast as I can put it up. 

One book that caught my eye, although I resisted the urge to sign it out straight away, is Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford.  Has anyone read it?  It has rave reviews for its keen observation of Edwardian social history and has, I just found out, been made into a dramatization by the BBC starring Benedict Cumberbatch.  (Note to self...make more tea bread).  Once London's Olympic cauldron has been extinguished and my thoughts on The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen are sorted I would like to try Ford on for size and see how we get on.

And in case anyone is wondering, I made the bunting myself.  Five dollars and a spare hour of my time, no problem!  There was a slight moment of panic last week when I was greeted at the door by a member of upper management on my morning to open the library.  The motion sensor had gone off during closed hours.  A moment of dread filled me when I thought perhaps the bunting had fallen down and what a nuisance that would have been.  The bunting was safe, a member of staff had forgot to lock up the night before and the front doors had swung open to greet a night maintenance employee at the community centre.  Oh dear.

27 comments:

  1. I always enjoy reading your post. I am not for sure I knew you worked at a library. It seems to be the perfect job for a bibliophile. I hope you have a wonderful day of reading.

    I have actually set off the alarm at school...it is a bit nerve racking. I am glad your lovely bunting was not responsible. Bonnie

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    1. There can never be enough books for me! Too bad we're so ridiculously busy that we don't have time to read on the job *sigh*. Your alarm story made laugh, Bonnie...always more funny after the fact.

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  2. That is a lovely book display. I suspect there will be quite a lot of people stopping to have a look at your choices!

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    1. Thanks, Kate! And don't think I am beyond pulling people by the ear to make them notice!

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  3. Now, Darlene, would you mind listing the titles on the shelf, please. I can't quite place them.

    Umm, did you remove the Old Country Roses banner, or is it me?

    PS, just returned from the Picasso exhibit at AGO. He's not really my cup of tea, but I'm a member so it was free. And there are several paintings of a woman READING. One of his lovers (who the powers that be insist upon denigrating as "mistresses" was a reader. Delightful.

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    1. For you, Susan, anything! You can click on the photo to enlarge but in no particular order I'll whip off some of the ones I can remember...
      The Pankhursts by Martin Pugh
      The Fox's Walk by Annabel Davis-Goff
      The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst
      Fallen Angels by Tracy Chevalier
      Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
      The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton
      The Last Great Edwardian Lady by Ingrid Seward
      Lutyens and the Edwardians by Jane Brown
      The Bolter by Frances Osborne
      The Dark Lantern by Gerri Brightwell
      The Complete Victoria Cross by Kevin Brazier
      Howard's End by E M Forster
      The Edwardian by Roy Hattersley
      The Edwardians by Vita Sackville-West
      and dvds...Gosford Park, Our Boy Jack, Manor House, Enchanted April, Howard's End, Upstairs Downstairs...

      The banner is gone. I was fooling around with a template and clicked 'Apply to Blog' thinking it was just a matter of trying it on for size and POOF! it changed. Once I have some spare time to play with things I'm going to rework things and make it pretty.

      Thanks for letting me know how you got on with the Picasso exhibit! I feel like you do and haven't really desired to run out to it but you never know...there's still time.

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    2. Thank you for the list, I was going to ask for it too. I've read a few of these (The Buccaneers, Howards End, Falling Angels) but the others are new to me.

      Another possibility (for future reference) may be Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles series. I haven't read them yet but I received this recommendation from a friend who knew I was addicted to Downton Abbey.

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  4. What a fabulous display, Darlene! I love your choices!

    Regarding Madox Ford, I haven't read Parade's End, but I have read The Good Soldier. I remember it not being as good as I hoped it would be, but only because I had heard it was a masterpiece etc etc. He's an interesting writer - you should give him a go and see how you get on. I saw the advert for Parade's End on TV the other day - it looks good. Maybe I should try and get hold of the book too!

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    1. I had to resist the urge not to fight people when they walked off with my display items. After all, that's the whole point right?

      Okay, so I signed out a book from my own display...I admit it! Parade's End is on my dining room table and tomorrow I'll give it a quick browse to see if it's my cup of tea. Following on the heels of Woolf and Bowen this fella had better be nothing short of spectacular!

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  5. Oh thank you, Darlene. What a delicious array. (Sorry, I usually try to enlarge pics, but didn't think of it this time).

    I forgot to add, about the Picasso exhibit, there was one unexpected painting that simply blew me away. (For that one alone, I put up with all the stuff that doesn't speak to me).

    It's Massacre in Korea (1951)
    http://www.yuricareport.com/Images3/picassoKoreaBig.jpg

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    1. That is frightening, not an image one would ever forget, Susan.

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  6. How coincidental that you should mention Parade's End. I have just done a piece for an online magazine, an interview with writer Juliet Nicolson who has recently had her first novel published (although she is a respected historian), called Abdication. Juliet tells me that recently she has been assisting Tom Stoppard, who has written the screenplay for Parade's End. I am really looking forward to this and have the book on order!
    Lovely selection of books!
    Margaret P

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    1. A ha! My husband just bought me a copy of Juliet's 'The Perfect Summer', it was a great price and he knew I had had my eye on it. I also have a hold on 'Abdication' at the library. Lucky you getting to interview her, Margaret, and thanks for sharing that information about the screenplay!

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  7. Ooh, I am about halfway through the first of the four novels that make up Parade's End. Now that I know there is a miniseries in the offing I need to step it up and finish all four. My initial impression was that I was going to like them--and I still think I will--but the first one had me thinking one thing in the first several pages but has morphed into something else.

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    1. You as well?! Hahaha, I had no idea that this book was going to be in the spotlight...whatsoever, and apparently it has turned into the read of the moment. Hop to it, Thomas, and I will try to catch up.

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  8. A lovely display. I recommend Duchess of Duke Street DVDs as another Edwardian feel tv series.

    Am looking forward to series 3 of Downton.

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    1. I loved Duchess of Duke Street! We have it at the library but it has been around the block, shall we say, so many times that I wondered about the condition it was in. Don't want a disappointed customer!

      I can't wait either but I'm feeling a bit nervous about Shirley joining the cast. Time will tell...

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  9. Howards End is one of my all time favorite books.
    I started The Good Soldier this year, and just couldn't go on with it.
    Doesn't Margaret P have just THE best job!

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    1. Oh dear, well hopefully Parade's End deserves all of the stars it has on Amazon. And yes she does!!

      Enjoy your weekend, Nan, lovely to hear from you!

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  10. What a lovely display--It's fun putting book displays together at the library--I have one I do every month and it gives me a good excuse to meander the stacks. I'll have to check out that Ford Maddox Ford--I've only read The Good Soldier, but I like the sound of a good Edwardian story!

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    1. Ooh, lucky you, Danielle. There's a post idea for you, share one of your displays with us And I so enjoy your 'Lost in the Stacks' finds!

      Keep your eye out for the dramatization, hopefully we won't have to wait too long for it over here.

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  11. As well as Parade's End on TV - it starts here in the UK a week on Friday - we will also have The Ladies Paradise, although I think it's just being called Paradise - from the novel by Emile Zola. What treats!
    Margaret P

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    1. So excited about The Paradise adaptation, I hope we get it in the US next year. I love Zola and I haven't read that one yet.

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    2. Something to look forward to! Thank goodness for the production companies on your side of the pond, Margaret.

      Karen, I haven't read any Zola yet either. Perhaps Paradise will be just the kickstart we need...spread the word!

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  12. LOVE your display -- that's one of my favorite things to do at my branch too. Right now I have one that's "Cool Reads for Hot Days" -- all wintery looking books, North Pole, Mt. Everest, etc., as the weather's been reaching the 100s almost every day lately.

    And I just read another blog post about Parade's End: http://novembersautumn.blogspot.com/2012/08/parades-end-some-do-not-by-ford-madox.html

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    1. Ooh, great idea! A colleague of mine is looking for an idea for a display, perhaps she could squeeze that theme in before the leaves start to change.

      I had a look at that blog. Lovely review and I am going to have to sign out Parade's End again. For some reason my mind was wandering by about the page 20 mark so I abandoned it for New Grub Street which fit the bill perfectly. Right book, wrong mood as they say.

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  13. Great post Darlene. I have such fond memories of my seven years in a library. Should never have left!

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