Book Review: The Nameless City Book One by F. E. Hicks et al.

The Nameless City Book One written and drawn by Faith Erin Hicks and color by Jordie Bellaire

The Nameless City isn't really nameless. Every conqueror gives it a different name. The city has been conquered and reconquered for centuries by the three adjacent countries: Dao, Liao, and Yisun. The city is so important because the River of Lives runs through it. The river goes to a mountain range dividing the city from the sea. The ancient dwellers of the city bored a whole through the mountains so shipping could go through, creating an essential commerce route. At the start of the story, Dao is in control though they have been there for thirty years and the army is wearing thin. No country has retained control for more than thirty years. 

Kaidu is a Dao teenager who has just come to the city from the family farm. His father Andren is one of the lieutenants of the General of All Blades, the supreme commander at the city. Andren takes Kaidu on a quick tour of the city. Kaidu becomes fascinated with a hungry girl named Rat who runs off with his knife. He eventually gets it back and they strike up a bargain. He'll bring her food and she'll teach him how to run across the rooftops (parkour style, though they don't use this term because the story is set in a middle-ages time). Their friendship progresses as political intrigues start happening in the city.

The story is very interesting and the characters are delightful. This book sets up a lot of the world and makes some fascinating moves at the end, making me definitely want to read the next volume.

Recommended.

Movie Review: The Court Jester (1955)

The Court Jester (1955) co-written and co-directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama

In medieval England, circus performer Hubert Hawkins (Danny Kaye) wants to fight against the tyranny of a king who has usurped the throne. Royal adviser Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone) has managed to kill all of the royal family except for a baby that has the royal birthmark--a purple pimpernel on his posterior. So the false king (Cecil Parker) is one step from security. Meanwhile, the Black Fox (Edward Ashley) leads the resistance. Hawkins wants to fight along side the Black Fox but is relegated to royal baby care. The king's men raid the forest, forcing Hawkins to take the baby to a monastery for safety. As part of his cover, he travels with Captain Jean (Glynis Johns), a fighter he is smitten with. She likes him too but they can't get married until peace has returned to the kingdom. On the way, they come across Giacomo (John Carradine), a jester hired by Ravenhurst to entertain the king. They knock him out and Hawkins passes himself off as the jester, thus getting an inside man into the castle. Hawkins has to get a key to a secret passage that will let the Fox's men launch a surprise attack and take over the king's castle. Once there, a lot of other secret intrigues complicate the plot.

The movie is a musical comedy that pokes gentle fun at swashbuckler films. In addition to the political intrigue, there's a lot of sword play and a witch who casts spells (mostly hypnotizing Hawkins into thinking he is a much more competent fighter and lover). The film is very entertaining and plays up to Kaye's strengths as a physical comedian who can sing and dance. The jousting scene, with the famous "Vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison" scene is comedy gold.

Highly recommended, though my kids thought there was too much music and too much kissing.

PA/DE Random Stuff

Pictures from our recent trip that didn't get their own posts...

On our way up to Philadelphia, we ate at Tex-Mex Burrito Mexican Grill, in Wilmington, Delaware. The portions there are amazingly huge--we should not have loaded up on the chips and salsa before our meals came!

Fun sign!

Taco and burrito lunch special

We went to the Upper Moreland Free Public Library to find a geocache and also found this awesome bear bench.

Sit if you dare!

Geocache in a book!

Doylestown, Pennsylvania, has an awesome castle playground in their Central Park. The kids loved exploring it.

Castle Playground

Trolly Square just north of Wilmington, had a project to beautify utility boxes. We saw a bunch of them.

Does not dispense gum balls, alas!

Don't let the pigeon listen to your stereo!

Flowers

Ladybugs

The town also has a swinging pedestrian bridge that was part of a geocache. The bridge was built in 1909 and still works well.

Hanging out on the bridge

Leaving the bridge

View of the Brandywine River

Train and car bridges

A small waterfall

Trolley Square also has a war memorial and lots of cool architecture. 

War memorial

A sampling of the cool houses

On the way home, we stopped at Keyes Ice Cream in Hartford, Maryland, for a treat. 

The shop

My kids did not want to pose

Banana fudge nut ice cream

Trying to escape

Book Review: I See Satan Fall Like Lightening by Rene Girard

I See Satan Fall Like Lightening by Rene Girard

A lot of contemporary people compare the Bible to mythology, implying that it is both unoriginal and fictitious. In a subtle analysis, Rene Girard draws out some crucial distinctions and similarities between classical myths and the content of the Old and New Testaments, though his main purpose is not to debunk the debunkers, but to examine a common destructive cycle in human society.

As individuals and collectively, people fall into mimetic desire--the desire for what someone else has. The desire naturally causes conflicts, which often escalate. In order to relieve the tension and restore (or in some cases create) social order, a scapegoating mechanism is used. An individual is blamed for the problem and eliminated from the group (typically by death). The tension is eased and the problem is solved, uniting the society. The punishment is seen as divinely inspired or satisfying, thereby fixing the situation and creating a new cohesive social order. Of course, the new social order will have mimetic desires spring up, creating a tension that will boil over into another crisis that is resolved by finding a victim to take on the sins and expiate for them. Girard calls this the cycle of mimetic violence.

Girard cites two main examples of the mythological take on the cycle. First, Oedipus's parents hear the prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother. To avoid this, the parents have him cast out, expecting him to die. He doesn't and is raised without knowledge of his true parents or the prophecy. Through circumstance, he returns to his hometown of Thebes, kills his father and marries his mother. Then a plague descends on the city (caused by the gods) that can only be ended when Oedipus's guilt is discovered and he is punished. Second, Apollonius of Tyana (a real person from second century AD) lived in Ephesus when an epidemic. To cure it, Apollonius pointed out a poor, ragged, blind beggar in the market square. He told the crowd to stone the beggar which would appease the gods and cure the epidemic. After the crowd (which was a first reluctant) killed the stranger, the plague ceased. In both cases, a larger societal problem was solved violently through the punishment of a more-or-less innocent scapegoat. The mechanism is not limited to fiction as the Apollonius example shows.

Girard's primary example from the Bible is Jesus's crucifixion (though he does write about Old Testament figures like Joseph in Egypt and Isaiah's suffering servant). The jealousy of the Jewish leadership over Jesus's success as a preacher boils over and spreads to Pilate who wanted to maintain the peace in Palestine and to the crowd that had welcomed Jesus joyously only a few days before. Even Jesus's own followers give in to the social pressure and abandon Him. A larger societal problem was solved violently through the crucifixion of Jesus. 

The key difference for Girard is that in the mythological cycle of mimetic violence people are unaware of the process in which they participate and the guilt of the victim is not disputed. Biblically, Joseph was persecuted unjustly by his brothers in Genesis just as Jesus was in the Gospels. The victims are innocent, though their suffering is transformed in a more substantial way to the benefit of their societies. They are aware of the cycle and are able to free themselves from it thanks to divine intervention. The apostles recognize their ignorance and go out humbly and forthrightly to proclaim the saving message of Jesus to everyone.

While the theory is very interesting and has lots of subtle and dramatic arguments in its favor, I found the presentation unsatisfying. Girard claims that the cycle of mimetic violence is not just a cause of social order, but what begins societies. He cites examples but there are plenty of other cases where families grow into societies. His application of the cycle of mimetic violence is too universal to be convincing. Also, he seems unaware of or ignores other counter-examples to his theory. He describes how everyone, including Pilate and the disciples, are swept up into the condemnation of Jesus. Even the thieves crucified with Jesus have scorn. Except Girard never talks about the Good Thief. Also, Jesus caused wide-spread discord among people following Him after the claim that they need to eat His flesh and drink His blood in John 6. Surely this situation should have resulted in mimetic violence? Girard's theory is fascinating within his context, but there is a larger context.

Mildly recommended--the powerful ideas are not convincingly presented here.

Sample quote about the thieves crucified with Jesus: The more one is crucified, the more one burns to participate in the crucifixion of someone more crucified than oneself. [p.21]

Rockwood Park and Museum

We visited the Rockwood Park and Museum just outside Wilmington, Delaware.

In the mid-1800s, Joseph Shipley was retiring from his work as a merchant banker in Liverpool and picked the estate's location for its natural rock outcroppings, calling it "Rockwood." The design imitates English estates with manicured but natural-looking lawns, trees, and shrubs while including gardens and walkways. Like many estates in England, it has been turned into a combination historic site and tourist attraction, though the carriage house has been fully renovated and hosts events like weddings.

Proof of historicity!

The mansion (which we will see soon enough) was built in the 1850s, but there was an original farm house on the land. These ruins are called "Edward's Playhouse" after Edward Bringhurst, youngest son of Shipley's nephew. 

There's a suspicious cinderblock in there

The pond provides drainage in the area, leaving a lot more useable land around. The information sign did not say how old the pond was, but surely the fountain is a (relatively) recent addition.

I want to see the dry ponds!

The original entrance to the property was this lodge, where a gatekeeper lived. The building was constructed in the 1850s to match the estate house's style. The gatehouse is not open for touring.

Lodge

The approach to the house includes a Ha-Ha, or a small wall designed to keep cattle and other livestock out of the immediate vicinity of the home. It is tall enough to stop them but short enough to be easily traversed by a horse or human. And the wall is not visible from the house.

You can just see the chimneys through the trees

The original mansion was built from 1851 to 1854. 

Conservatory attached to the house

The main house

The other end of the house

View to the carriage house

The main hall has a grand staircase going up, designed to impress visitors on first entry.

The front door from inside

Stairs with family portraits

A front room provides a sitting area for guests.

Plenty of couches

More of the room

The conservatory was a place to show off exotic plant all year long. It was built with hot water pipes in the floor to provide heat in the winter. The frosted glass windows for the ceiling and walls help the conservatory from getting too hot in the summer.

Conservatory

The morning room is a nice place for breakfast and is next to the conservatory.

Morning room mirror and fireplace

Breakfast table

Upstairs are four bedrooms. The plainest one was probably for guests, though it has some family trophies.

Four poster bed without canopy

Trophies and victory cups

Cool desk in the corner

A fireplace in every room!

Edith Bringhurst loved horses and her riding crop and hat are on the bed in her bedroom. She married Alexander Sellers in 1897 and they moved to Pennsylvania. The house would come back to her family when her eldest daughter Nancy inherited Rockwood from her Aunt Mary.

Edith's bed

Other bedroom furniture

Mary Bringhurst lived an active social life all the way to her death in 1965 at the age of 100! She was also interested in her family history and her research provides a lot of information about the family. Her bedroom is decorated with some of her stuff. Her room has a closet attached--a whole extra room just for clothes!

Mary's bed

Cosy decorations

Walk-in closet

Edward Bringhurst Junior was the great nephew of Joseph Shipley and bought the property in 1892 at a public auction. He brought his family (including daughters Mary and Edith) to live on the estate. Edward had retired from a pharmaceutical job in 1876. He spent his time maintaining and improving the estate.

Not Edward in the mirror

The bed is interesting for the canopy, as if it were a window into Heaven.

Desk and bed

View from lying down!

Yet another fireplace

Going back downstairs, we saw more food-related rooms.

Staircase from the top

A small office was set up for the man of the house to conduct business, or at least keep track of finances.

The study

The dining room was the place for more formal gatherings and entertaining.

Ready to serve dinner

Discreet entrance for servants?

The large fireplace

Drinks on the sideboard

The kitchen shows various levels of technology, displaying the history of the estate.

Table for cooking (the first kitchen island?)

Boxes for food

Freshest herbs possible!

Wood-burning stove

Who's ringing the bell?

Older kitchen sink

One room in the addition is a small museum containing items from the history of the house, including a recreation of a stuffed owl from long ago.

Displays

The owl

Fancy side table

Back outside, there's a trench for water on the front patio, maybe for horses?

Outdoor sink?

Not far away is the fruit cellar. The most common form of refrigeration in the 1800s was digging down into the ground and using the natural coolness of the earth. We did not get to go inside. 

Fruit cellar, not a sunken house

The carriage house has been rebuilt and expanded and is used as an event hall. We did not get to go in there either!

Garden and carriage house

The estate has lots of trails for wandering around. 

A cosy trail

We loved our visit, especially since we came on the first Sunday of the month when entry is free!