Book Nook Cafe discussion

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚




What's this ? It's a Book Buddy Read ! All are welcome to join in.

When ? Around September 19, 2022.
Read and discuss at your own pace.

Book At Seventy: A Journal

Author May Sarton
May Sarton was the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton
(May 3, 1912 – July 16, 1995)
She was a Belgian-American poet, novelist and memoirist.

Wiki bio- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Sarton

Where? The entire discussion will take place in this thread.
**** Please do not start new threads ! ****

How does this work/ Read and discuss at your own pace.

Spoiler Alert If you are posting a spoiler
please note that at the top of your post with the chapter # .
You can also use the spoiler HTML .

Book Details
Paperback is 336 pages
Published: 1984

Synopsis
Winner of the American Book Award: May Sarton’s honest and engrossing journal of her seventieth year, spent living and working on the Maine coast.

May Sarton―poet, novelist, and chronicler―occupies a special place in American letters. This new journal chronicles the year that began on May 3, 1982, her seventieth birthday. At her home in Maine, she savors “the experience of being alive in this beautiful place,” reflecting on nature, friends, and work. “Why is it good to be old?” she was asked at one of her lectures. “Because,” she said, “I am more myself than I have ever been.”

*** The eBook is currently on sale at Amazon for $3

I couldn’t agree more with her sentiment. I feel more myself now than ever. John has mentioned in the past that it is believed that she may not have been quite as honest as readers tend to believe. While that’s unfortunate, her writing, particularly about nature, fills my need and gives pleasure.

British writer and editor Diana Athill also is well known for her memoirs in later life. There is much to be said by such women who succeeded in challenging times while continuing to be open about their private lives. I’m glad we get to sneak a peek into their thoughts.

Journal of a Solitude so far is my favorite. Her journals are certainly not page turners but there is something about her writing about her day to day mundane activities that completely draws me in.

I've read all of her journals and her bio, many years ago. Madrano is correct that the journals are from May's point of view, so a bit of an unreliable narrator. But, that has to do with events in her personal life where she could be a bit of a drama queen (as the saying goes). I'd say it's fine to read this one for the ageing angle. Have fun!

Thanks, John.

Deb, I still have 100 pages to go in the Jefferson book. I am going to try to read some of that today. It's taking me awhile because I go to YouTube to see travel videos of all the places he mentions. I'll try to fit in a day or two of the Sarton diary in as I go.

Don’t worry about it, Alias. I’ve just begun and get distracted by her floral and poet references.

Elsewhere i mentioned my reader has a translator. It’s turning out handy for Sarton’s book, as the first few chapters are sprinkled with French. As others here may recall, May was born in Belgium but fled to England, followed by a move to the US, where she was educated. ANYway, she shared what appears to be an entire poem, written in French by Jean Dominique, birth name Marie Closset. This is how my machine translated the poem, which sounds iffy to me. Much lost in machine-driven translation.

Poetry! I put you on my lips
Like a fresh stone for my thirst,
I keep you in my dark and dry mouth
Like a small stone that is remassed
And let’s chew with blood upon my lips!

Poetry, Ah! I gave you love
Love with its face like a dawn of money
On the sea—and on my soul, with the sea in it,
And the storm with the sky of the little day
Livid and fresh as a shiny shell.

Interesting. Maybe there is an online version of the poem. I'll check when I get to that.

I know Sarton has poetry books, but I've not read them. Have you ?

May Sarton Reading Her Poetry

Selected Poems

The Poetry of May Sarton Volume Two: A Durable Fire, A Grain of Mustard Seed, and A Private Mythology

The Poetry of May Sarton Volume One: Letters from Maine, Inner Landscape, and Halfway to Silence

------
This link at the end had some of her poems.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poet...

May 3rd

I didn't know what a fritillaries flower was. Very pretty and unique. She mentions a lot of flowers I'm not familiar with, city gal that I am. ;)

May 3rd

"I suppose real old age begins when on looks backward rather than forward, but I look forward with joy to the years ahead and especially to the surprises that any day may bring."

I like her attitude.

I've never thought of this before but I guess as one gets older many conversations begin with, "remember when...."

MAY 3

She says, "I am happier, more balance, and ... more powerful."

I did find powerful comment odd. However, I'm glad she felt that way.

It seems to me as one ages in the U.S. you become invisible. Your often made to feel out of touch. It reminds me of the Progressive Insurance TV commercials about turning into your parents. I'll admit they can be funny. However, a part of me finds them insulting. Too sensitive? Maybe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rt-E...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfc8r...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Redn...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsT7m...

May 4th

I think she is very fortunate to have friends and a purpose. A feeling of being valued. She has her work as an author and she travels promoting that. Also her garden. She does make me wish I had one. Though I know it's a tremendous amount of work.

May 4

I didn't know what aventurine beads looked like. I love the color.
Looking online at the jewelry, I assumed it was jade

I wanted to see exactly where Sarton lived in Maine. I saw these articles. :(

My constant googling and YouTube searches are why it takes me forever to read a book !

Farewell to May Sarton’s “House by the Sea”
https://downeast.com/arts-leisure/far...

Nonprofit plans to demolish author May Sarton’s old house in York
https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/...

May 6

Robert Coles. She mentions an interview in Sojourner with him. I couldn't find the article but saw this interview. As with many of the names she mentions, I am not familiar with them. Are you ?

Coles is still with us and is 92 !

I think the last book I linked to is probably related to the article Sarton mentions.

-- YouTube
Robert Coles Speaks on Ruby Bridges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPK3z...


--- Wikipedia
Robert Coles is an American author, child psychiatrist, and professor emeritus at Harvard University.
Born: October 12, 1929 (age 92 years), Boston, MA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_...



The Story of Ruby Bridges

The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination

The Spiritual Life of Children

I might put the Ruby Ridge book on my TBR list. A few years ago I listened to the audio of an excellent book Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock by David Margolick. Coles book may be an interesting follow-up. I like the idea of reading a book that was written during that period.

The names Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan Massery may not be well known, but the image of them from September 1957 surely is: a black high school girl, dressed in white, walking stoically in front of Little Rock Central High School, and a white girl standing directly behind her, face twisted in hate, screaming racial epithets. This famous photograph captures the full anguish of desegregation—in Little Rock and throughout the South—and an epic moment in the civil rights movement.

I tried to find the Dominique poem online but couldn’t. Giving the translation from my Overdrive was a last resort. The ideas in it— stone in mouth, the sea— were bits i liked.

Lovely jewelry you shared. It’s a quartz but what a green!

I looked up many of the flowers and birds she mentions too. Dan’s gardening years introduced me to many varieties of blossoms but many Sarton covers are wild, too, so i don’t recognize them. The fritillaries are charming. I’d love to have some of those.

Alias Reader wrote: "MAY 3

She says, "I am happier, more balance, and ... more powerful."

I did find powerful comment odd. However, I'm glad she felt that way...."

There is, in my experience, a sense of power in, as she puts it, “‘I am better able to use my powers.’ I am surer of what my life is all about, have less self-doubt to conquer,’” There is power in knowing what you can handle, due to a long life of learning what you are able to handle or not. I took it to mean that, although it’s curious she didn’t put it that way. Then again, i’m not a poet.

You asked if I’ve read her poetry. I have but I’m not a fan of it. Not that i’ve read much, to be fair. Clearly she was respected, given the number of reading engagements she held.

Btw, i agree with you on those Progressive ads.

Alias Reader wrote: "May 4th

I think she is very fortunate to have friends and a purpose. A feeling of being valued. She has her work as an author and she travels promoting that. Also her garden. She does make me wish..."

Agreed. They carved out time not only to celebrate her special day but brought gifts they knew would call to her or were a part of their bond. Beautiful.

Alias Reader wrote: "May 6

Robert Coles. She mentions an interview in Sojourner with him. I couldn't find the article but saw this interview. As with many of the names she mentions, I am not familiar with them. Are yo..."

I’m glad you pointed this out, Alias. I know Coles and his work with children but was under the impression his wife coauthored the series. It now seems that i misremembered, partly due to the kerfuffle about the shared authorship of Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization series of books. With the ‘70s neofeminist movement he admitted and added his wife Ariel Durant’s name to the books. So, when i read Women Of Crisis: Lives Of Struggle And Hope,which Coles and his wife Erin co-wrote, i thought she co-wrote the entire series, as well. She didn’t. SO, your question clarified this for me.

His books on Children of Crisis, Volume 1: A Study of Courage and Fear were groundbreaking and informed the world of how political, private and international events impacted the way children looked at the world and themselves. Later he examined ethic communities as well. Fascinating.

I’ve heard of some writers Sarton has mentioned but many are new-to-me. Talk about your rabbit holes! And, as often happens, i have a list of books to explore post-reading this book. Camille Mayran and Anne Truitt, for examples.

madrano wrote: "partly due to the kerfuffle about the shared authorship of Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization series of books. With the ‘70s neofeminist movement he admitted and added his wife Ariel Durant’s name to the books.."

I was unaware of that. It's sad that he had to be pushed to be honest about the authorship. I sure hope we are past such deception now.

It appears we are but who knows? This is another reason i like these memoirs by older women, they are at an age where some can stop thinking about the struggle for money and reflect on what they did (and did not) do in their careers.

On May 14 entry, i laughed at her stories about squirrels taking over bird feeders. We had that happen in Oregon. In a way it’s funny to watch because the rodents jump from tree limbs to the feeders in daring leaps. But the poor birds! Ultimately prudent limb clearing solved the problem.

Then a nearby field was cleared for development and rats invaded the feeders. Greasing the poles took care of that. Ah, nature!

May 21.
There were several things of note from this day which caught my eye. In the opening we learned that she sold some of her papers to a collection within the NYC Public Library. Previously i presumed such papers were given to institutions, possibly pursued, but still as a donation. Now I’ll be wondering about this each time i hear about such a thing.

(Note. A family selling those materials i understood, just not the subject. I don’t know why i differentiate. Either way I’m glad they ate saved! Much can be learned about a writer’s project and style this way.)

Later, she quoted one of her own poems. I was surprised but liked it because she shared that or still pleased her. Sometimes i wonder how poets view their old works.

Finally, she writes about her nearby friend Janice. We learned this woman made a conscious decision to slow her life in order to enjoy it. Immediate family isn’t mentioned, which helps make the story more remarkable. In my own life Dan did the same. Once we had children he refused labor-heavy intensive promotions to be with us. It was different from other men he knew in college but it meant the world to us. And we continue to feel the results of that choice.

For us, it was about making family time. For friend Janice, it was an even more distinct option—to relish this one. I suspect the bi-monthly dinners with Sarton is a perfect example. How often do we say we want to make plans but don’t because we & they are too busy? This pleased me.

madrano wrote: "Ah, nature!
"

I like nature....but from afar. :)

I’m not a fan of critters scurrying along our garden. Or in our house, for that matter. I’m glad they exist, just not near me, please.

May 28
Sarton mentions her mother, “… nevertheless indulged in what she called “Colonial Expansion” (taking over the end of the dead end street in Cambridge) to make a new border and expanding the garden when she had little strength. “ ‘M amused because i have a friend who is secretly doing this to a vacant lot across from her apartment building.

She’s lived there a decade and the lot has had no activity. So two years ago she began spreading some wildflower seeds along the edge. The first year nothing bloomed, so she added a different variety. A nice but small group of flowers arose, including two she identified from that first year. Colonial Expansion or Guerrilla Gardening, both are terrific to think about!

madrano wrote: "I’m not a fan of critters scurrying along our garden. Or in our house, for that matter. I’m glad they exist, just not near me, please."

Today Neil deGrasse Tyson was on The View talking about his new book. Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization

He said something like people who think they are helping a mouse in their basement and use a humane trap then free it in the wild aren't doing the mouse any favors. In the wild the mouse's life span is a lot shorter and he is prey to others.

I am not sure what point he was making. Who wants a mouse in the house? And even a short free life is better then trapped in a basement, imo.

He started by mentioning he talks about vegetarian eating in the book. I am guessing from the mouse comment he isn't one.

LOL! Strange thoughts, imo. I tend to agree with you about which life would be preferable. Thanks for sharing this, Alias.

Memorial Day
Bit of a rabbit hole today, while reading this chapter. First Sarton mentions Virginia Woolf’s writing about Elizabeth Bowen’s ancestral home, Bowen Castle. Looking it up, i learned a bit about it and the fact Elizabeth was the last owner of the property. Sadly, it was torn down.

Then Sarton informs readers she met both women during a visit to England in the 1930s. Neat. I liked that she views the experience as newbie her meeting well established writers. She knows she’s namedropping but not exactly so.

Next she mused about not having friends available at present with whom she can discuss the craft of writing. She mentioned Doris Grumbach & that she was devoting her time to work about Willa Cather, both a novel and a bio.

After a search i learned Grumbach wrote an introduction to an edition of one of Cather’s novels, as well as a review of a bio, written by Sharon O'Brien, Willa Cather: The Emerging Voice. She praised it but also mentioned the bio ended just before O Pioneers! was published.

Wiki mentions, “Her article on an aborted plan to write a biography of Willa Cather was published in The American Scholar in January 2001.” So, there we go.

It is fascinating to learn that Ms. Grumbach wrote six memoirs about her own life in as an old woman, including Fifty Days of Solitude! For more info— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_G.... I hope to get hold of one of her memoirs.

Thanks for the research, Deb !

Fifty Days sounds interesting. Though when I looked at the first review it said it was very little about an experiment in solitude and more about various friends.

I am still intrigued, so it's now on my TBR list.

Deb wrote: :"Next she mused about not having friends available at present with whom she can discuss the craft of writing. "

Sarton would have loved Zoom. I have a friend who is in a playwright group. They use Zoom to connect and discuss what they are working on and critique each other etc.

I'm finished the Jefferson book I was reading and will write up my review for BNC tonight. Tomorrow I will write up my notes of the highlights I made for myself. Then I will be able to devote myself to Sarton.

May 9th

I read this last night about her purchasing and releasing dragonflies on her property.

I know people purchase ladybugs but I've never heard this
about dragonflies. Interesting.

I looked online at saw this.

"it’s worth noting that while dragonflies can be bought online in some countries or states, it’s illegal to introduce them to your yard without first getting permission from the local authorities. Some states only allow certain species of dragonflies to be released, so it’s worth reading up on the rules for your state before purchasing dragonfly nymphs."
https://www.gfloutdoors.com/can-you-b...

I don't know that I would like them flying around my yard even if they ate other insects. I guess if one has a pond or water on the property they can be useful.

I didn’t realize you were reading both books at once, Alias. You’ve been quite active here while also reading the other. I marvel,

I noticed when reading reviews of Grumbach’s books that quite a number mentioned coming to her through Sarton’s memoirs. I liked that.

Zoom has been a boon for group meetings for people who don’t or can’t leave home. It seems to me this would be great for writers to share their work or process through while right at their desks. I first tried it for political planning during COVID but know some use it to meet with clients and workplace pals.

Like you, i’d not heard of dragonfly “planting”. I made note of it but didn’t research. Interesting that one needs to attain permission in some places. I just wouldn’t have considered invasive species!

What a lovely photo of one you shared. Thanks.

May 14

The book she mentioned The Wounded Woman: Healing the Father-daughter Relationship intrigued me due the the current bestseller, I'm Glad My Mom Died I am #1,416 on the library hold list !

I don't recall every seeing such a wait for a library book before. The author has been on a lot of shows promoting the book, including The View. I didn't know who she was when I saw her on The View. Apparently she was on a popular Nickelodeon sitcom called, iCarly.

A friend of mine mentioned she was on the library wait list for the book, so I decided to put myself on it, too. She was very well spoken and thoughtful on the shows I've seen her being interviewed on.

Sarton mentions on May 17, "I have less guilt because there is less anger. Perhaps before i die I shall make peace with my father and be able to heal the wound that Leonard's book had forced me to think about again."

I was unaware of the issue Sarton had with her father. I don't recall her mentioning either parent. Do you know what this is about ?

May 14

This sentiment reminds me of something Gretchen Rubin often says. "The days are long, but the years are short"

Sarton quotes Linda Schierse Leonard
"Time is like an ever-moving spiral, The future continually comes toward us but it meets us with our past at each moment of the immediate present."

May 15

She quotes two of my favorites. I've especially always liked the Camus quote.

May 16

Here is the poem she mentions when expressing that "emptied -out feeling after her friends leave. She notes the last line.

MUD SEASON } by May Sarton

In early spring, so much like a late autumn,
Gray stubble and the empty trees,
We must contend with an unwieldy earth.
In this rebirth that feels so much like dying,
When the bare patches bleed into raw mud,
In rain, in coarsening ooze, we have grown sluggard,
Cold to the marrow with spring’s nonarrival:
To hold what we must hold is iron-hard,
And strength is needed for the mere survival.
By dogged labor we must learn to life
Ourselves and bring a season in;
No one has ever called child-bearing easy,
And this spring-bearing also asks endurance.
We are strained hard within our own becoming,
Forced to learn ways how to renew, restore.
Though we were dazzled once by perfect snow,
What we have not has made us what we are.
Those surface consolations have to go.
In early spring, so much a fall of will,
We struggle through muds of unreason,
We dig deep into caring and contention;
The cold unwieldly earth resists the spade.
But we contend to bring a difficult birth
Out from the lack of talent, partial scope,
And every failure of imagination,
Science and art and love still be our hope!
What we are not drives us to consummation.”

May 17

I get a very Zen vibe from reading Sarton. Do you ?

"I live more completely in the moment these days, am not as anxious about the future, and am far more detached from the areas of pain, the loss of love, the struggle to get the work completed, the fear of death."

May 18th

Gosh, I haven't heard Ms. Magazine mentioned in a long time.
I happy to see it's still published.

https://msmagazine.com/

For three years, it was published under Liberty Media for Women, LLC, before the Feminist Majority Foundation took it over. It continues to publish a print magazine today. Apr 25, 2020


Who was on the first cover of Ms magazine?
Image result for is ms magazine still being published
This first issue of Ms. Magazine, published July 1, 1972, features Wonder Woman on its cover. Ms., founded by activists Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pittman Hughes, is a periodical providing “feminist news and information.”

I've noticed a few time now she writes "my self" and not myself. For example, May 20th second paragraph.
"...when I can resume my self, write, and garden in peace."

Any thoughts on this? I can't come up with one.

May 21

This made me think of these covid times where many seem reluctant for a variety of reasons to go back to the old ways of work and living. I often wonder if peoples attitude has changed in regard to the "rat race", the competitive race for wealth and power. If this turns out to be the case, this reevaluation may be a silver lining to this pandemic.

"She settled for living her life, for having time to see friends, to garden, to read, to listen to music, to be "available." In a society where success and money both mean so much, where people are judged too often by "what they make," it takes character to make the choice she did."

I think it ties in with her entry for May 23 where she met Mr. Webster, the plumber, whose wife has cancer.

"I suppose I have always believed that one must live as though one were dying- and we all are, of course- because then the priorities become clear. "

Alias Reader wrote: “Sarton mentions on May 17, "I have less guilt because there is less anger. Perhaps before i die I shall make peace with my father and be able to heal the wound that Leonard's book had forced me to think about again."

I was unaware of the issue Sarton had with her father. I don't recall her mentioning either parent. Do you know what this is about ?


To be honest with you, what i recall about this issue is that i was underwhelmed by the problem. Indeed, i wondered whether she was as open about it as she thought. Sarton expressed anger that her father’s needs overwhelmed her mother, who seethed under it. Please don’t get me wrong, this is an issue and in the ‘80s it seemed to come to light with a ferocity for women when viewing their mother’s lives.

As far as i can tell, this was what colored her life in later reflections upon her parent’s marriage. I’ve seen this happen in other relationships, too. When one is older, there is more time to reflect on the past and, given a lifetime of accumulated experience, see family in a different light.

I hope i’m not misremembering.

madrano wrote: Sarton expressed anger that her father’s needs overwhelmed her mother, who seethed under it...."

Interesting. Thank you. I wish she was clearer on this point.

I found this concerning her mother's response to the dynamic in her marriage. Of course there are two sides to every story as they say.

"My mother buried her anger against my father and I saw the effects in her of this restraint — migraine headaches and tachycardia, to name only two. "
https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/1...

Alias Reader wrote: " May 17

I get a very Zen vibe from reading Sarton. Do you ?

"I live more completely in the moment these days, am not as anxious about the future, and am far more detached from the areas of pain,..."

I do. She hasn’t mentioned disciplined meditation, nor specifically reading about it. I’m wondering if this is naturally how she writes in contemplation of nature and connective-ness, as opposed to storytelling. The anger issues which she’s described in the past don’t really go hand-in-hand with this Zen vibe but it may be something she has consciously worked toward and nature brings it about easier.

Alias Reader wrote: "May 18th

Gosh, I haven't heard Ms. Magazine mentioned in a long time.
I happy to see it's still published...."

I don’t know if you recall or not but Autumn interned there in the year 1999. She got to meet all the big wigs that were still working there such as Steinem. Since then we’ve been keeping an eye on it, periodically we subscribe and then we stop.

For me it is a good resource for women in the arts particularly, not just issues. I’m sure i read about Sarton in those pages.

I did not notice the “my self” business. Curious. I looked it up & only found this similarity, using “ourself”, “Oneself or One's Self? Oneself is a reflexive pronoun, referring to a subject's own person. The two-word phrase one's self uses self as a noun in a spiritual, philosophical, or psychological sense. In all other cases, one's self can be replaced with the pronoun oneself.”

So, possibly, tying in with the Zen question, she spelled it that way for her own reasons, the same way some folks don’t capitalize “i” when speaking of themselves. It may have been self-evident to her, so she didn’t think to explain.

I’m baffled that i didn’t notice, as that’s the sort of thing which intrigues me. Now i’ll keep an eye on it!

madrano wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: "May 18th

Gosh, I haven't heard Ms. Magazine mentioned in a long time.
I happy to see it's still published...."

I don’t know if you recall or not but Autumn interned there in..."

I didn't recall. Sorry my memory is horrid. I knew she worked for a magazine. That is so cool that she met Gloria Steinem.

madrano wrote: "

I did not notice the “my self” business. Curious. I looked it up & only found this similarity, using “ourself”, “Oneself or One's Self? Oneself is a reflexive pronoun, referring to a subject's own person. The two-word phrase one's self uses self as a noun in a spiritual, philosophical, or psychological sense. In all other cases, one's self can be replaced with the pronoun oneself.”

So, possibly, tying in with the Zen question, she spelled it that way for her own reasons, the same way some folks don’t capitalize “i” when speaking of themselves. It may have been self-evident to her, so she didn’t think to explain.

I’m baffled that i didn’t notice, as that’s the sort of thing which intrigues me. Now i’ll keep an eye on it!
"

At first, I thought it was just a printing issue in the eBook. Now that I've seen it more than once I think it is deliberate. A poet like Sarton uses words very specifically.

I think what I highlighted in your reply may be key.

The other time I noticed it was in the May 16th entry in the first paragraph.

"I am alone in my life with Tamas, Bramble, and all the daffodils and must get to my desk, overflowing with letters, and try to resume my self."

madrano wrote: I do. She hasn’t mentioned disciplined meditation, nor specifically reading about it. I’m wondering if this is naturally how she writes in contemplation of nature and connective-ness, as opposed to storytelling. The anger issues which she’s described in the past don’t really go hand-in-hand with this Zen vibe but it may be something she has consciously worked toward and nature brings it about easier.."

Lol... yes the father/anger issue isn't very Zen like.

Though her consciously trying to live in the moment, is what gave me that vibe. When one meditates, at least most types that i am aware of, ask you to focus on the now. We tend to let our minds drift and relive the past or think about the future. It's actually quite difficult to stay in the present moment.