I finished la Peste this month. Every time I hear about this current virus I think of Camus' beautiful portrayal of the human spirit at such a time. This is one of the texts I studied for my Masters dissertation, and in it I tried to look at the portrayal of Christianity in Camus' work. One of his life-long friends was a priest and he spent long times with him. Sartre accused Camus of expelling Christ from the front door of the house, only to let him in at the back. I think this sums up Camus' respect for people of faith. But then Camus just respects all people, all the time, with all love and compassion. He certainly captures all the stages of illness and its accompanying fear that we're experiencing now.
I love this play. I love Gerard Depardieu's movie of it. I love Steve Martin's Roxanne, and we all watched it over half-term. Thankfully Mattman laughed in all the right places, and forgave us for making him sit down with us! Sadly, I will not be loving James McAvoy's version any time soon!
And then came this special gift of a day, when I think you should always do something special, because it's a free day! A once in four years opportunity to have a whole 24 hours extra! So, today I spent the whole day at a sewing class. Not just slightly wonky sewing to line a little crochet project. Not travelling to Glasgow so that your accomplished chum can sew your curtains for you. This was real live me at my machine all day with expert tuition and a very nearly finished real live "simple" skirt at the end of it. A garment! I think making a garment is a very good thing to be able to do!
I can't claim to have done that yet, mind you. I still have to hand sew the top of the waistband and run a seam around the hem. I might have done all this tonight, but I've just got back from watching Emma with some friends from church. What a visual treat that was, and it certainly puts a "simple" skirt into perspective! I don't think I'll be embarking on any of those yellow coats, blue waistcoats, or floaty gowns any time soon, or indeed ever at all!
4 comments:
Gorgeous fabric! I'd like to say I've been reading great literature too, but just lately I ve found it hard to concentrate on anything remotely "heavy". I've been dozing in front of a French thing on channel 4 and surprised by how much I can understand without the subtitles. A sewing class was great use of the leap day
Oooh, very well done on the skirt- it looks gorgeous so far!!! And bravo for doing something nice on the bonus day! Very pleased to hear that Jo is in the choir! (I have some lovely boys in my choir!)
I am still smiling at your dressing up as one of the Little Women for church and I would really like to see a picture!
PLease do share your finished skirt on here! I made a skirt at music camp a couple of years ago supervised by my friend Catherine and I was so proud of it- invisible zip and all- wish I could remember how to make it though as I STILL have the Dalek material I was originally hoping to use for the workshop!
I don't know which movie version of "Cyrano" we watched with our children about 30 years ago -- maybe the 1950 edition! Because it was old then. One of my daughters who was probably not into her teens yet, watched it again and again and memorized many of Cyrano's lines! The last time we rented that one on VHS I realized how poor the sound was, and couldn't get through it. I really should watch one or more of the newer film versions, after reading the play itself, of course, which would be a first.
I enjoyed this whole post so much. Your first paragraph makes me want to read Camus, which I also haven't done since high school French class, where I probably read it in French and didn't understand much. :-(
Annnd - sewing! You know I am looking forward to extricating my sewing machine from behind so much stuff stored all around it, while I've been waiting for my new sewing room. I love to see your place, and the physical and mental space all brought to task. God bless your garment-making, Mags :-)
Is that the skirt fabric in the last photo? The green pattern? It's gorgeous! What rich tones! Can't wait to see it!
I've never read any of those books (sadly), nor seen any movies about that plot line. Steve Martin, for all his excellent skills, is not a favorite of mine. Over-the-top humor makes me wince inside :) But I do LOVE James McAvoy. He's amazing. I might make an exception.
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