so tired

British Word of the Day: snippet - a small portion of description to get a feel for the whole, especially in library catalogues. (America's "abstract.") eg: "Quick, read the snippet, so you'll know if you want the book or not."

Today's entry will be short. Sound the alarum.

Went into London today, with Jane Eyre in my bag. Came back and she was still in there. And I still wasn't through with her. I don't believe I will be until tomorrow evening. 150 more pages to read in that one, and then on to Wuthering Heights.

I, I will survive.

Tomorrow is church. Today, I guess. That really means I should go to bed.

London:
-Saw St. Paul's Cathedral on the inside. It was spectacular--much more than my liberal arts math project on architect/mathematician Sir Christopher Wren could ever have shown. There was so much detail and there were mosaics everywhere. We had made it just in time for Evensong by the All Boys' Choir at St. Paul's. The music was so beautiful, so pure, and so rich that it sounded as if the Cathedral was singing itself, from its very soul--from the inside out. I can't imagine a more beautiful choir. I nearly wept during the first song.
-Ate in Chinatown. Was hungry an hour later.
-Saw Piccadilly Circus. Was under the impression that it was called "circus" not because there would be exotic animals, but because the general layout of the place was rather like a circle. It's hard to judge when one is in media res. I still don't know what the "circus" is all about. I could google.uk it, I suppose. No one would know, except for you, reader. (Dear reader, Jane Eyre has already had a disadvantageous effect on my writing style. Disaster will ensue; I am sure of it.)
-Went to / Came back on a rather expensive bus that took 2 hours to take us back (about average.) So, no, Oxford is NOT in the middle of London, contrary to popular belief.

Yesterday:
-Visited The Trout Pub. There was about an hour of trudging involved, as it had just rained that afternoon. I cleaned my new Chucks thoroughly upon my return. The Pub was nice. Not going again, unless I feel the need to work up an appetite for my next round of fish and chips and Guinness.
-Attempted to complete Jane Eyre. It was a hearty attempt--over 150 pages done this morning, afternoon, and night.

Conclusions:
-Jane Eyre is no good the second time around. You know the exact plot, and you dread the 30 pages of her wandering through the heath. Any minute now, I'll come up on the page where she deserts Mr. Rochester and Thornfield and I'll skip those long, boring pages during which a missionary tries to subdue her feminine will by whisking her away to some foreign land.


Fool! Jane Eyre cannot be had. Neither by me, nor by any. Every one of Jane's relationships is a failed one. (Credits to Elisabeth Wenger for that last idea, at its most basic.)

How do I expect to receive knowledge from Jane Eyre--is not it a relationship of book to reader? Of character to consumer?

I'd really like to put it away and dwell more on Heathcliff and Catherine and the incessant darkness of Wuthering Heights, but that shall come soon enough.

Cheers and good night!

P.S. St. Aldate's church tomorrow. I hear it's charismatic. (By whose standards, I know not.)