Sunday, November 22, 2015

An Explorer of People: Knud Rasmussen's Arctic Journeys to Document Eskimo Culture


"Even before I knew what traveling meant I determined that one day I would go and find these people, whom my fancy pictured different from all others. I must go and see 'the New people' as the old story-teller called them." Knud Rasmussen

Enthralling. Thrilling.

Every time I picked up White Eskimo: Knud Rasmussen's Fearless Journey into the Heart of the Arctic  those words popped into my head. I had to put the book aside for a few weeks. I SO was eager to return to it.

Rasmussen endured treacherous journeys across the Arctic, driven by his need to discover and document people who had rarely, if ever, seen Europeans. He was fully aware that 'civilization' was already ending the Eskimo way of life.

Charismatic, with high social intelligence, ruggedly handsome and fun loving, Rasmussen could charm his way into any society. The Inuit called him the White Eskimo for he lived fully as one of them; he could drive a team of sled dogs, hunt, relish rotten meat and green liver, talk the language and walk the walk.

Rasmussen was born in Greenland in 1879. His father was a Danish missionary. His mother's people had lived in Greenland for over a century and she was one-fourth Inuit. Rasmussen loved the Arctic; there were great hardships but there was also great freedom.

When he was twelve the family returned to Denmark, a shocking transition for the boy. At boarding school he mourned the loss of his old life and was an indifferent student. He became a heart-breaker and the 'king' of social gatherings. He dropped out of university and considered acting and opera. He socialized with the intelligentsia. In 1900 he decided on a travel writing as a career.

Rasmussen charmed his way into expeditions to Iceland and Lapland, writing articles as a freelance journalist. The Danish Literary Expedition finally brought him back to his beloved Greenland. He was able to reach the Thule people who lived farther north than any other people on earth. Rasmussen had finally found a new people, with different customs, in an unknown land. Thule became his home base for most of his life, With Peter Freuchen he established a trading base there. He became part of the community listened to the stories, memorized them, then wrote them down. He loved the artistry of the Inuit poetry and folklore.

Rasmussen went on seven expeditions, journeys that took him from Greenland to cross Arctic Canada. Rasmussen endured what many other could not: starvation, frozen limbs, pushing himself past exhaustion. He noted the similarities of the cultures, language and mythology and developed a theory of their interconnectivity through migration eastward.

He accepted the Eskimo culture and peoples without European judgment. He knew their life was harsh and they did what they needed to do to survive. The killing of girl children or the voluntary suicide of the elderly prevented a community from growing bigger than their food sources could maintain. Cached meat spoiled in the summer warmth, but Rasmussen enjoyed mildewed blubber or green liver with the locals. Cannibalism happened in starvation times. Since men outnumbered women, husband sharing occurred.

Rasmussen's private life is not well documented. He never wrote about himself, never made himself into the hero of his own story. He had numerous lovers, and married and had children although his family rarely saw him. In later years he returned to his family to write. Promoting his books meant visiting populated cities like New York but he never felt at home anywhere but in the Arctic. His final journey to that hostile land, to film a movie that showed the true character of the Inuit, he became ill and never recovered.

Stephen R. Bown has written the first biography of the Danish Arctic explorer and ethnologist Rasmussen in English, which may be why few recognize his name. Since Rasmussen's extensive writings have not been translated into English, Bown was required to buy books, take them apart and tediously print them, scan them into a computer, then use software to translate them into English.

The book has charming black and white illustrations, maps, and photographs.
Read an excerpt from the book here.

I had never heard of Rasmussen before. I am thrilled by this book and now want to read his book The People of The Polar North.

I thank the publisher and NetGalley for a free ebook in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

White Eskimo: Knud Rasmussen's Fearless Journey into the Heart of the Arctic 
by Stephen R. Bown
DeCapo Press
Publication Date November 10, 2015
$27.99 hard cover
ISBN: 9780306822827


1911 Handkerchief Depicting Walrus Hunt, from my blog post here

Friday, November 20, 2015

Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Geneva

I was invited to participate in a study that records reading responses. I received the novel Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova, author of Still Alice. and read it as usual except after every chapter I synced where I was. I hope the publisher Simon and Schuster and author learned something. I sure did.

The novel concerns a family who discovers they have the Huntington's disease gene. This is the disease that killed Woody Guthrie, leaving his son Arlo growing up and waiting to see if he carried the gene. There is a 50/50 percent chance of inheriting the disease.

Genova is a neuroscientist who specializes in Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, and autism. She has become a best selling novelist whose books focus on families struggling with crisis involving brain related diseases. In this novel she introduces a Boston policeman and his family. Joe is ten years from retirement with full pension. His eldest son is newly married. He has a daughter who is a ballet dancer and another teaches yoga. His youngest son is 'finding himself'.  Joe exhibits strange behavior and tests reveal Huntington's disease.

Joe struggles with his failing body, his inability to provide a financially secure future for his wife, and the knowledge that several of his children will also die of this disease. Each child has to decide if they want to undergo testing to know if they have the gene. Which is worse? Knowing you will or won't die an early death from a debilitating disease, or ignorance while endeavoring to live a normal life?

We learn about the disease along with the family.

The beautiful part of the story is when Joe realizes his mother, who had suffered from undiagnosed Huntington's disease, had tried to die with dignity. Her example inspires him. His daughter reminds Joe that how he responds to what is happening to him will be an example to his children when their time comes.

Such stories can be relevant outside of the specifics. I thought of my own parents who each died of cancer. Mom showed acceptance. She called all her friends and without self-pity chatted and told them her prognosis. Dad held onto every thread of hope and battled to live for several months. I had resented Mom's desire to die peacefully although I knew she'd endured enough physical pain in her life and she saw death as a respite and an avoidance of a dependent old age. Then I saw Dad's long decline and the indignity of a slow death. Was that the better way?

We all know we will someday cease to live. Some of us know ahead of time that we have a disease that will inevitably kill us. There is no right or wrong way to handle the knowledge. But our choices are an example to those who love us.

I received a free ebook from the publisher. The review is my choice.








Wednesday, November 18, 2015

A Pumpkin Runner Just in Time

I planned to make this table topper several months ago. It was delayed. I finished the hand appliqué a few weeks ago. Thanksgiving is around the corner, then it will be time to bring out the Christmas quilts. Time was running out. So I did what I never do: I machine quilted it.
Now it is where it was meant to be, just in time for Thanksgiving.
 I goes on the desk/table under Pumpkin Pie by Bunny Hill.


The pattern can be found in Better Homes and Gardens Easy Appliqué. The original had pretty pieced borders.

Reimagining King David: The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks

Here is a man who is both great and flawed, just like those tragic heroes Oedipus and King Lear. Meredith Jaffe, The Guardian

When I read Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders:A Novel of the Plague   it changed my mind about historical fiction. I read every one of her novels as they came out: March which won the Pulitzer Prize, The People of the Book, and Caleb's Crossing. I was thrilled to get an ARC through NetGalley of her new book The Secret Chord.

The Secret Chord is a novelization about the life of King David, informed by the Bible and re-imagined from a 21st century understanding. It is narrated by the prophet Natan (Nathan) who channels the Name (Yahweh).

The book begins in the middle of David's life. Natan wants to write the story of David's life and David sends Natan to interview people from his past. With Natan we hear long pages of  David's back story, intermixed with his own memories. We learn about David through other's eyes.

The book skips through time before following a consistent chronology starting with David's rape of Batsheva and murder of her husband. The Name requires a fourfold atonement and King David suffers a series of  devastating losses. His son rapes and disfigures his half-sister, his favorite son Avshalom (Absolom )prepares an army to takeover kingship and is killed. Because of his warfare David is not allowed to build a tabernacle for the Ark of the Covenant, but Natan prophesies that David is to make his youngest son Slomo (Solomon) king, and he will build the temple and lead their people into peace.


The Old Testament, or New for that matter, is a record of faith (mythos, stories with meaning), not a scientific, verifiable history. I will warn that this a novel, story telling, a re-imagining for entertainment. Brooks has a great story to work with: there is jealousy, warfare and takeovers of cities; there is rape and lust and abandonment of women; there is fratricide and incest and every kind of dysfunctional family problem. Brooks makes Jonathan and David sexual lovers and allows the women to tell of the brutality men inflicted on them. The rape and disfigurement of Tamar and the rape of Batsheva are particularly disturbing, especially as we are aware women still are victims to this day. This isn't your Sunday School David. Even Brooks says the story is "very Game of Thrones."

I didn't enjoy reading this novel. The vividly described carnage of battle, the disjointed narrative, the layering of 21st century sensibilities (such as David's bisexuality), the raw sexual and emotional abuse of the women, left me struggling to continue reading it. Then, I am not a Game of Thrones fan.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Secret Chord
Geraldine Brooks
Viking
Publication October 6, 2015
$27.95 hard cover
ISBN: 9780670025770









Monday, November 16, 2015

A Trip To The Franklin Cider Mill

It was a beautiful September day today....I mean November...The sun was shining, it was sweater weather, and I got the wanderlust. So we went to the Franklin Cider Mill in Bloomfield Hills, MI to get some cider before they shut down for the season.

The apples were HUGE this year. We have had hundreds of apples from our two trees but we had to bring some of these monsters home!

They make Apple Cider Vinegar and have maple syrup, honey, jams, condiments, cheese, sausage, and baked goods galore!
 The mill dates back to 1837 so it is as old as the state of Michigan!

We brought home Honeycrisp Apple Cider, made with handpicked apples and unpasteurized.



 The river is full of Mallard ducks. The kids like to feed them.


We also picked up Apple Butter and Pumpkin Butter made with sugar, not corn syrup. My hubby enjoyed a Cider Dog and I had Blueberry pie from the food stand. 

What a nice way to spend a warm November day. 
.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

The History Behind American Ballads

Telling a story in song is one of our oldest human traditions. For hundreds of years people have sung ballads that told stories about murders, outlaws, romances, wars, tragedies, and hardships. During four visits between 1916 and 1918 British musicologist Cecil Sharp collected over 1500 American songs in the southern Appalachians.

At the same time Sharp collected old ballads new ones were being created as a response to events of the time. These new songs included responses to modern calamities involving railroad accidents, shipwrecks, and the treatment of workers and prisoners. 

Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales that Inspired "Stagolee," "John Henry," and Other Traditional American Folk Songs by Richard Polenberg explores American ballads based on historical people and events, explaining the events and persons who inspired them, and covering their first known performances, recordings, and publication. 

The songs in their categories include:
  • St Louis (St. Louis Blues, Stagolee, Frankie and Johnny, Duncan and Brady)
  • Lying Cold on the Ground (Omi Wise, Ballad of Frankie Silver, Tom Dooley, Poor Ellen Smith, Pearl Bryan, Delia's Gone)
  • Bold Highwaymen and Outlaws (Cole younger, Jesse James, John Hardy, Railroad Bill, Betty and Dupree)
  • Railroads (John Henry, Engine 143, Casey Jones, Wreck of the Old 97)
  • Workers (Cotton Mill Blues, Chain Gang Blues, Only a Miner, House of the Rising Sun)
  • Disasters (The Titanic, The Boll Weevil)
  • Martyrs (Joe Hill, Sacco and Vanzetti)
Persons interested in folk music and its performers, American history, or music recordings will find this book informative and interesting. 

Here is a summary of the history of one song included in the book.
Tom Dooley as recorded by the Kingston Trio was all over the radio when I was a girl, selling over a million copies in a few months. It won the Grammy for Best Country and Western Recording. Everyone knew the words.

Tom Dooley was first recorded in 1929 with these words:


"Tom Dooley"
As recorded by Grayson & Whitter (1929)
(CHORUS)
Hang your head, Tom Dooley,
Hang your head and cry;
Killed poor Laura Foster,
You know you're bound to die.

You took her on the hillside,
As God almighty knows;
You took her on the hillside,
And there you hid her clothes.

You took her by the roadside,
Where you begged to be excused;
You took her by the roadside,
Where there you hid her shoes.

Took her on the hillside,
To make her your wife;
Took her on the hillside
Where there you took her life. (CHO.)

Take down my old violin,
Play it all you please;
This time tomorrow,
It'll be no use to me. (CHO.)

I dug a grave four feet long,
I dug it three feet deep;
Throwed the cold clay over her,
And tromped it with my feet. (CHO.)

This world and one more,
Then where you reckon I'll be?
Hadn't a-been for Grayson,
I'd a-been in Tennessee. (CHO.)

How many of us know that Tom Dooley was a real person, Thomas Caleb Dula, a handsome lady killer and Confederate soldier? After bedding two cousins, Ann (an old flame, now married) and Laura Foster, Tom discovered he had syphilis. So did Ann. But Tom blamed the disease on Laura. Ann blamed Tom. 
Tom Dula
Tom paid Laura several visits. Then Laura was found missing. Laura's father believed she was murdered and a warrant for Tom's arrest was issued. Tom had taken off. He turned up at a farm owned by Union veteran Lt. Colonel Grayson who hired him as a field hand. The posse tracked Tom down, but he'd high tailed it again...wearing new boots that hurt his feet. 

Tom was cooling his blistered feet when Grayson found him and brought him in. When Laura's body was found, Tom was indicted for murder, found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging. An appeal was made, improper handling of evidence was proved, and Tom faced a second trial. He was again found guilty and his execution set for May 1, 1868.

Tom spent his jail time trying to cut his chain with a piece of glass--and getting baptized. Neither delayed his execution. On the fatal day a cheerful Tom insisted he was innocent and quipped, "I would have washed my neck if I had known you were using such a nice clean rope." He spoke for an hour to the crowd, maintaining his innocence and accusing witnesses of false testimony. The crowd wasn't buying it. The day before he'd written a note declaring "I am the only person that had any hand to the murder of Laura Foster."

By 1867 a song was being sung about the murder. An early folklore scholar noted the song was sung all over Watauga County. The first recording of Tom Dooley was made in 1929 by Grayson's nephew, Gilliam Banmon Grayson. Folklorists Anne and Frank Warner sang the song and recorded it in 1940. They sang Tom Dooley in every lecture and program. In 1948 Alan Lomax included the song in Folk Song:USA. Then in 1958 the Kingston Trio made the song a national sensation. NPR choose Tom Dooley as one of the most important songs of the twentieth century.

Hear My Sad Story was an enjoyable and informative read.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Hear My Sad Story: The True Tales that Inspired "Stagolee," "John Henry," and Other Traditional American Folk Songs
by Richard Polenberg
Cornell University Press
Publication Date November 17, 2015
ISBN: 9781501700026
$26.00 hard cover

Friday, November 13, 2015

Swiss Air Hanky

i finally bought this city scene handkerchief from SwissAir. I have wanted one for a long time!