Book II: The Tale of Despereaux (AKA- Paws speaks)

"The world is dark, and light is precious. 

Come closer, dear reader. 

You must trust me. 

I am telling you a story."

I must make a confession: I sat down to write about Despereaux, to prove how  my intricate knowledge of the book.

I discovered I am utterly unqualified.

I hope you saw the beautiful truth in this book, how Kate DiCamillo so captures how all of us, us rat-souled things, desperately need the Light, but I, alas, cannot explain it to you.

So I will just end with DiCamillo's words in the Coda:

"Do you remember when Despereaux was in the dungeon, cupped in Gregory the jailer's hand, whispering a story in the old man's ear?

I would like it very much if you thought of me as a mouse telling you a story, this story, witht he whole of my heart, whispering it in your ear in order to save myself from the darkness, and to save you from the darkness, too.

'Stories are light,' Gregory the jailer told Despereaux.

Reader, I hope that you have found some light here."

Live Dangerously; Drink Two Cups of Tea

The story of our adventure begins in an almost ghost town...  We picked blueberries, the sun hot on our necks, and a cool breeze blowing through our hair.*  The four of us were in Vegas on our way home from Webster (Vegas is the name of Holliander's car**) when we saw a solitary cemetery off of Elizabeth Avenue. Curiosity overtook us. We pulled over*** to investigate this charming home of ancient, departed souls.

And that's when we knew: we are a bunch of juvenile, adolescent, underage grannies.  With tight skin and teeth, as Valancy pointed out once we had stopped at the local Steak and Shake. As we discussed this idea, it became ever clearer our diagnosis.  We sip Lady Grey in tiny teacups and mugs, we pick blueberries, and eat small portions of egg salad on brown toast. Of course, we stop at little libraries even though we do not have library cards for the county. Closed antique shops and book stores beckon us from the highway, as do solitary bench swings.****

As we drove home, our tummies filled with milkshakes, we decided there was only one thing to do...  Start a bookclub (which further proved our granny status). The Blue Castle was the chosen novel for the maiden voyage of our little party consisting of Dandelion, the Hobbit+, Holliander, Valancy, L'Amour++, and Paws.

Valancy and I (Paws) began forming the book list for this grand idea, but now it comes down to the rest of the clan. Here are the books we thought of. Feel free to comment on which ones we should read and when (or if you have a suggestion not listed)! Each book is allotted two weeks of time, after which we will meet to discuss our thoughts on the novel. 

List of Books to Read:

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun

Bachelors Anonymous by P. G. Wodehouse

Frederica by Georgette Heyer

Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

We are so excited to start this venture and to share it with all of you! Here's to being an ancient soul for the rest of our days!

Fin

*Valancy is delusional here. There was no such cool breeze; the product of her over-imaginative brain because she reads. Such things will happen to you if you, too, read.

**As we write this, Don't You Want Me plays softly in the background.  It's important to note that it is NOT the original version, but the track from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.  A fantastic movie, by the way, all about the value of human life... just watch it.

***After a U-turn...

****Now, we are listening to Space Oddity, a grand song of adventure. Perhaps one day we shall start a blog about reformed gypsies, and it will have a background picture of ancient maps. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find backgrounds for blogs about underage grannies.

+The Hobbit and L'Amour were not present on this voyage, but they are too dear to leave out of this organization as they meet the qualifications for "Underage Grannies."