Thank you for bringing Edward Lear to us. If I had a cat like Foss, I would wonder why his tail is so short. I'd take him surfing on the ocean / after lathering him with suntan lotion.
Since I can’t sail away in a sieve or curl up with my jumbly pals in a crockery jar, I will settle for the next best thing: a return to the transporting nonsense verse of Edward Lear. This is both delicious and erudite, capped with a reading that touches the melancholy heart of the maestro of zaniness.
I had seen Lear's humourous drawings, but not his 'serious' artwork - it is beautiful. Your 1988 travel arrangements sound somewhat akin to Lear's Jumblies going to sea in a sieve. I used to describe setting off on one of my unexpected journeys as being like jumping off a cliff, but Lear's sieve is an even better metaphor.
Before reading this, I was prepared for “charming” but I was thrown into a new world. I feel that I’ve washed up on the shores of The Tempest and the Land of Oz and some place where quarks and sharks and sparks and larks play together. It may be that going to sea in a sieve is life’s great adventure, and if you’re going there, why not travel with Lear? I loved every bit of this. Your reading was a pure delight. Thank you for this wonderful gift.
One of my absolute favourite writers - and such an amazing artist. I love his portraits of birds. Your account of him reminds me of my Dad, who when setting off for the Second World War tucked 'Alice in Wonderland' into his kit bag. I’ve only just thought of how he must have felt when some years after that he read it to me as a bedtime story. He must have sat beside me and yet been elsewhere as the book brought back memories of earlier readings. Thank you for making me think of that.
What a great post, thank you so much. I have just finished reading The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea - Yukio Minshima, I still can't get it out of my head. The shocking beauty of it, blew my mind. I look forward to your post when it lands in my inbox. I had not heard of him before but randonmly happened upon the book in a charity shop and after reading the first page knew I had to carry on.
I typically take a digital respite on Saturday mornings, but couldn’t resist an ERL dispatch from you, Jeffrey. And like a dream in which I’ve travelled years only to return to the present in minutes, you’ve delivered such an enchanting gift.
So much to connect with, but with brevity: memories of back when I travelled regularly, nearly always kicking myself for the added weight of the massive reads I’d picked up at the airport bookseller. I dearly miss the extravagance of it, stocking up while in that unique space of nervy anticipation.
And also, your ‘bonus track’. I listened aloud just now (looking out at the lake on a pristine spring morning) my 6 yr-old coming to me with a question in the last 30 seconds. His interest led to my reading The Jumblies aloud to him in turn… and the ripples continue outward. Thank you, as always.
I love Edward Lear! I've got a book with his limericks in English, translated or, more exactly, recreated in Italian, and they're such a delightful read. I also enjoyed your reading of The Jumblies, and I'm going to steal Nonsensiverse from you, if you don't mind, Jeffrey.
I loved reading this. The Owl and the Pussycat is the first poem I remember someone reading to me as a child. I remembered the lines from Calico Pie too! Long buried. I realize now too he must have been an influence of Dr. Seuss. Thank you so much for this, I definitely want to read more about him.
I so enjoyed this, Jeffrey ! Especially your reading. I also love those poems. My personal version of this was TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. I bought this as a teenager in 1970 and it was one of the few books I took with me on my travels around the UK and to the Middle East, years later. There I read it to my children and it accompanied us back to the UK in 1991 in the hands of my sleeping six year old. Last month I passed it onto her seven year old son, my first grandchild.
This piece was extremely evocative and made me reflect on all sorts of things, not least my own career and journey across seas and lands. I am intrigued to find out more about Edward Lear but more immediate than that is my request. Can you please tell me where to start with Yukio Minshima? I am unfamiliar and would like to know which book to begin with. I think of myself as a lover of Japanese literature with Haruki right up there at the top but I confess to not having explored Yukio.
Thank you for bringing Edward Lear to us. If I had a cat like Foss, I would wonder why his tail is so short. I'd take him surfing on the ocean / after lathering him with suntan lotion.
Since I can’t sail away in a sieve or curl up with my jumbly pals in a crockery jar, I will settle for the next best thing: a return to the transporting nonsense verse of Edward Lear. This is both delicious and erudite, capped with a reading that touches the melancholy heart of the maestro of zaniness.
Beautifully written (and cleverly quoted)!
Thanks for introducing Edward Lear to me, whom I never knew before, and based on his devotions to Foss, I like him already! 😊
And I am sure your copy of the Nonsense Songs & Stories still has many more journeys left for it!
Thank you, Betty. I think Foss would be a really cool surfer!
I had seen Lear's humourous drawings, but not his 'serious' artwork - it is beautiful. Your 1988 travel arrangements sound somewhat akin to Lear's Jumblies going to sea in a sieve. I used to describe setting off on one of my unexpected journeys as being like jumping off a cliff, but Lear's sieve is an even better metaphor.
There was an Old Man with a beard…
Lear’s bird artwork is gorgeous too!
Wonderful. Good books are the 'real' home in this nonsensical world.
Before reading this, I was prepared for “charming” but I was thrown into a new world. I feel that I’ve washed up on the shores of The Tempest and the Land of Oz and some place where quarks and sharks and sparks and larks play together. It may be that going to sea in a sieve is life’s great adventure, and if you’re going there, why not travel with Lear? I loved every bit of this. Your reading was a pure delight. Thank you for this wonderful gift.
Delightful! I always smile when I see something from you in my inbox.
One of my absolute favourite writers - and such an amazing artist. I love his portraits of birds. Your account of him reminds me of my Dad, who when setting off for the Second World War tucked 'Alice in Wonderland' into his kit bag. I’ve only just thought of how he must have felt when some years after that he read it to me as a bedtime story. He must have sat beside me and yet been elsewhere as the book brought back memories of earlier readings. Thank you for making me think of that.
What a great post, thank you so much. I have just finished reading The Sailor who fell from Grace with the Sea - Yukio Minshima, I still can't get it out of my head. The shocking beauty of it, blew my mind. I look forward to your post when it lands in my inbox. I had not heard of him before but randonmly happened upon the book in a charity shop and after reading the first page knew I had to carry on.
I typically take a digital respite on Saturday mornings, but couldn’t resist an ERL dispatch from you, Jeffrey. And like a dream in which I’ve travelled years only to return to the present in minutes, you’ve delivered such an enchanting gift.
So much to connect with, but with brevity: memories of back when I travelled regularly, nearly always kicking myself for the added weight of the massive reads I’d picked up at the airport bookseller. I dearly miss the extravagance of it, stocking up while in that unique space of nervy anticipation.
And also, your ‘bonus track’. I listened aloud just now (looking out at the lake on a pristine spring morning) my 6 yr-old coming to me with a question in the last 30 seconds. His interest led to my reading The Jumblies aloud to him in turn… and the ripples continue outward. Thank you, as always.
I love Edward Lear! I've got a book with his limericks in English, translated or, more exactly, recreated in Italian, and they're such a delightful read. I also enjoyed your reading of The Jumblies, and I'm going to steal Nonsensiverse from you, if you don't mind, Jeffrey.
I loved reading this. The Owl and the Pussycat is the first poem I remember someone reading to me as a child. I remembered the lines from Calico Pie too! Long buried. I realize now too he must have been an influence of Dr. Seuss. Thank you so much for this, I definitely want to read more about him.
I so enjoyed this, Jeffrey ! Especially your reading. I also love those poems. My personal version of this was TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. I bought this as a teenager in 1970 and it was one of the few books I took with me on my travels around the UK and to the Middle East, years later. There I read it to my children and it accompanied us back to the UK in 1991 in the hands of my sleeping six year old. Last month I passed it onto her seven year old son, my first grandchild.
This piece was extremely evocative and made me reflect on all sorts of things, not least my own career and journey across seas and lands. I am intrigued to find out more about Edward Lear but more immediate than that is my request. Can you please tell me where to start with Yukio Minshima? I am unfamiliar and would like to know which book to begin with. I think of myself as a lover of Japanese literature with Haruki right up there at the top but I confess to not having explored Yukio.
BW
H