Mon Jul 14, 2008
Coromandel Sea Change
One of Rumer Godden's India novels.
Blaise and Mary, a young honeymooning couple who married hastily and do not seem very well suited for each other visit a hotel on India's Coromandel Coast. Mary starts to fall in love with India and gets swept up with a candidate in a local election. By turns funny, romantic and profound, a bittersweet tragedy. Echoes of Shakespeare abound-- not only the Tempest (as suggested by the title) but also Othello and perhaps a Midsummer Night's dream. India isn't a subject that draws me in on its own. In fact--perhaps because I didn't like A Passage to India?-- just the fact of a book's being set in India is something I have to get over to make myself want to read it. But I'm glad I did. As with everything else by Godden, there is something here worth reading.
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Back in Mac Heaven
The care package from mom arrived today with a replacement power cord for my iBook. I am so glad to put the heavy old Dell back into retirement! Thanks, mom, I'm so glad you're a nerd!
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Vacuum Cleaners for Kids?
I think I've probably mentioned before that Isabella is quite afraid of the vacuum cleaner. However, she loves the little Playskool toy vacuum that we inherited from my sister-in-law. She pushes it around and proudly tells me that she's cleaning up the messes. She did the rug the other day and then moved on the the detestable kitchen floor.
The only problem with this, from my perspective, is that her little toy doesn't actually pick up any dirt. What a shame, I said to Dom, that they don't make small vacuums for kids that really do pick up dirt. I believe in giving children real work to do, and Bella is just at the age where she loves to help around the house. She honestly thinks she is helping when she pushes her little vacuum toy around, cleaning up just like mommy does.
The Playskool toy is really about the same size as my little hand held Dust Buster; but Bella can't use the Dust Buster because it's too heavy for her to hold upright and it doesn't have wheels. Also the controls arent amenable to her little fingers. But I imagine a clever designer could come up with something the size and shape of the Playskool vacuum with the motor and sucking capacity of a Dust Buster. Then she could really help clean up the house. And that would be good news for both of us.
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