_The Story of the Trapp Family Singers_: Seven Reasons to Read It

"God's will hath no why," writes Maria Augusta Trapp...

Last week, however, an onslaught of hand-foot-and-mouth had me inwardly groaning "why, why?" as my kids and I languished on the couch and compared rashes.  While cabin fever is mainly what ails us now (too much time to push each others' buttons), at least we had the opportunity to connect over the movie The Sound of Music-- which brings to mind another of Maria's favorite sayings:  "When God closes a door, He opens a window."  My three-year-old loves role-playing Liesl, and seemed to dwell in the role for three days straight; while my two-year-old channels Gretel in the "So Long, Farewell" number...  And they both enjoy the "part where the Nazis are chasing them" to a degree that sort of disturbs me.  (Nazis are fun?)

As for me, I went ahead and requested the book...  Finally!  I've only been meaning to do this for, oh, how many years now?

And I found it well worth the effort!  Here-- for the Quick Takes linkup, however belatedly-- I offer:

Seven Reasons to check out The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (Maria Augusta Trapp, 1949)

1.  To compare it with the movie, natürlich!  Among other differences, the family-- escaping a summons to perform at Hitler's birthday celebration-- flees Austria quietly by train in 1938, just days before the borders are closed; and Georg's proposal to Maria is, ahem, awkward.  (And irresistibly cute!)

2.  Rich detail on Austrian religious traditions.  Across two chapters Maria recalls the rhythms of Advent and Christmas, Carnival, Lent, and Easter as experienced in prewar Salzburg.

Many of the practices are both beautiful and wonderfully down-to-earth.  For example, on Palm Sunday worshippers did not receive palms, but gathered boughs of pussy willow or whatever convenient bush or tree grew on nearby; and after these were blessed, the people then left the branches at various points on their property so as to return a blessing upon the soil.  "How lovely and practical!" say I, contemplating that vaseful of dried-out palms on my dresser.

3.  That funny chapter about cousin Peter who did everything "by the handbook."  Talk about compulsive personality!  Maria shapes his role in a family camping trip into a sweet, humorous bit of nostalgia.

4.  To cry with them.

"We all went into the chapel silently. . . . 

"'Austria,' he [Georg] said, and tears choked his voice, 'you are not dead.  You will live on in our hearts.  This is only a sleep.'"

 I just couldn't hold back my own tears during Maria's account of that terrible moment in which the Austrian government announced its capitulation to the Third Reich-- or during her narration of Georg's final illness.

5.  Maria's humorous descriptions of culture shock in America.  From the details of daily life (Shoes are shined at the barber shop?  Diapers are pinned, not tied?) to Americans' blunt manners and rootless living, Maria spills on prewar Transatlantic differences while giving lots of love to our hospitality and can-do attitude.

6.  To learn a little more about music!  I found myself looking up such pieces as Bach's "Jesu Meine Freude," Gibbons' "The Silver Swan," and Brahms' "The Day Has Come When Thou and I" ("Ich Fahr Dahin"). And did you know that the hymn "Now Thank We All Our God" had been composed-- or at least co-opted-- by Bach?  I hadn't.

7.  Overall-- it's simple, warm, and heartfelt, with a buoyant sense of God's Providence and Maria's headstrong, irrepressible personality.  And plenty of facepalm moments!  (Those nuns were right:  She's trouble.)

....And just a couple of caveats:  Maria's old-fashioned approach to discipline-- heavy on spanking, zealous to ward off personal vanity-- made me squirm, as did her midcentury "Negro" references.  (The book first appeared in 1949.)

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!  And please visit Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes.

Edelweiss, secret journals, and more Quindlen brilliance~ Quick Takes, September 26

1. Two sick kids. One with a possible UTI (and candy-pink antibiotics), the other with some oddball bug that mimics strep throat but would scorn to be so obvious.  It's there in her bloodstream, laughing at us... So if I seem a bit loopy, blame sleep deprivation! No, they're not sleeping. You've all been there, right?

Conversion Diary

2. As the children and I feel utterly drained, we've leaned on video for the past two days... I know, I know, it's so unhealthy. But for now let's overlook that point and smile, because-- their new video obsession is The Sound of Music! These two and three-year-olds would love to have "The Lonely Goatherd," "Edelweiss," and "So Long, Farewell" on continuous replay... Frankly, I can't think of a more comforting movie for cranky, lethargic moods (including my own here)! Perhaps my girls have noticed that this one makes mama happy-- and therefore indulgent?

3. Despite illness, my feisty three-year-old found the energy to upbraid Rolf (of "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" and subsequent scenes). "If you don't stop being a Nazi RIGHT NOW," she threatened, role-playing Liesl, "I'm going to run up that mountain into SWITZERLAND and you'll never ever ever see me again!"

We really don't have to worry about her (much), do we?

Image: Open Library

4. My daughters' interest in The Sound of Music moved me to place a hold on Maria von Trapp's The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.

5.  Also, I received a review copy for the first time... Ok, ok, it's from Crown's Blogging for Books program, which just about any blogger can join-- but still, there's an ego boost in it.  (Yay, my opinion has value in a barter economy!)

And so, I look forward to reading The Secret Journal of Ichabod Crane (Sleepy Hollow), which apparently is connected with a TV series?  Never seen it.  Have you?

6.  Currently, I'm reading Anna Quindlen's Black and Blue-- a story of an abused wife who, having fled her husband (a big-city police detective), is now hiding out with her 10-year-old son under an assumed name.  While piecing together a new life for herself and her emotionally-damaged child, she also waits in terror for her husband's reappearance...  No flimsy Lifetime movie, this novel is slow, tense, character-driven, and filled with astounding turns of phrase that I itch to underline (but can't, since it's from the library).

Image: Open Library

7.  As example of the above, take this description of a supermarket:

"Jets of water sprayed the peppers and plums so that they seemed irresistible, more like art objects than produce.  In one corner was a pharmacy, in another a bank, in the third a bakery section that gave off the smell of cinnamon unexpectedly as you came upon it, like one of those perfume inserts in a magazine."(p.91)

Like one of those perfume inserts in a magazine.   How I wish that I could write like Anna Quindlen!


Happy Friday!  Thanks for stopping by.

To Quote My Other Ex...

Jessica Smock and Stephanie Sprenger, eds., My Other Ex: Women's True Stories of Leaving and Losing Friends (2014).

For today's Quick Takes linkup I'd hoped to post a (seven-point) review of this worthwhile new essay collection, but-- my kids had other plans, some of which involved overturning a chair and using its inverted back as a slide.  So I'm still turning pages and piling up Kleenex... Trust me, these essays are so moving and so relatable that you'll raid the guest room for that half-used box of tissues!

Anyway, while I'm incapable of pulling my thoughts together for a thorough "review" (must do this later), I thought I'd share some of the quotes I've highlighted in my Kindle copy.  They'll give you some idea of the caliber of these writers, who evoke lost friendships-- theirs, mine, yours-- with bittersweet accuracy.  I've been these people.  I've had these conversations.

1.  "I talked until my voice hurt, until I was unsure which revelations were true and which parts were simply a reflection of a person who seemed so much stronger than I am."  ~Angela Amman

2.  "High school happened.  Different interests happened.  Cliques happened.  And I let them happen.  But it seems like somehow there's more to it than that, although I've never been able to pinpoint what."  ~Shannan Younger

3.  "What I wanted was our uncanny simpatico, each of us adding another building block to the conversation until it towered and toppled and we started a new one." ~Andrea Jarrell

4. "Sitting across from me, stroking her baby's velvety head, scared about her marriage, she must have seen my relief.  She must have seen the slightest glimmer of smugness I felt..."  ~Andrea Jarrell

5.  "We tiptoed through our first long-distance fights, parsing them afterward until we each were okay.  We grew secure enough to talk through jealousies, neediness, imagined insults.  We always worked it out."  ~Cheryl Suchors

6.  "I could hear the hollow in her voice as she congratulated me on my initial announcement of pregnancy. . . ."  ~Elline Lipkin

7.  "When I started crying, Noah hugged me.  I tried to remember who I was before I was Mommy, when I was Chloe's best friend, when I was Jen."  ~Jennifer Simon

Amazing, aren't they?  Alongside that clutch of pain in my chest (more tissues, please!), I'm feeling some serious writer's envy.

Thanks for visiting-- and please check out Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

Seven Books I Want to Read (or Read Again)

For this week's Quick Takes (hosted by Conversion Diary) I'm selecting seven titles from my "To Read Soon" list.  Here goes:

1. My mom recommends A Discovery of Witches (Harkness)... And so be it!

(Sorry, bad joke.  I really am looking forward to this one!!  Mom's engrossed, and our tastes tend to coincide... The book is on my Kindle as I type.)

2.  Embers (Marai)....I read this novel once before, and found it achingly beautiful!  It's the story of unlikely childhood friends whose social and psychological differences separate them painfully in adulthood.  All of this is an allegory for the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire-- but the tale is so simply yet richly told that its political dimension never thwarted my enjoyment.  In other words, while I'm not invested in the fate of Austria-Hungary, I do care about these characters.

3.  The Doctor's Wife (Braddon)... Immersed in romance novels, the title character is bored with her marriage to a nice-guy doctor.  A British Madame Bovary?  I'm intrigued.

4.  Black and Blue (Quindlen).... Because I loved Still Life with Breadcrumbs.

5. Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek (van Wagenen)... Written by a fifteen-year-old (!), this memoir describes the author's application of a '50s-era popularity guide to the middle-school social scene.  My friend Shannan recommends it, so I'm game!

6. I Capture the Castle (Smith).... Years ago, I saw a film version of this coming-of-age tale set in 1930s' Britain.  I never forgot it and always meant to read the book someday, er, now.

7.  The End (Scibona)  ...A re-read, because-- while the author's use of language is astoundingly brilliant (something to savor on every page)-- in the end  I'm not quite sure that I "got it."  Time to try again!  This novel was a finalist for the National Book Award.


Thanks for dropping in.  Happy Friday, everyone!