I am going to murmur
about learning Spanish before I give this book review because I have guilt that
I have spent time reading anything frivolous. I should be studying Spanish in
every spare minute, but sometimes I just can’t face it. I know many Spanish words and phrases and can throw them out here and there with
reckless abandon. All the while Mike is
telling me I did something wrong. Most
words have masculine and feminine and I usually forget to include that and if
something is plural all the words around it are plural and I usually forget to
do that. Then there are the verb conjugations. The Spanish verb “to be” has two versions,
ser and estar. You must remember which
one to say according to what you are talking about and then each of these have
about 100 different words or word combinations depending on who it
concerns. Every verb has more than 50 parts. You have to memorize them all
and then remember to say them at the right time. This is a very left brained endeavor, but my
very right brain gets crazy after a while.
I can actually memorize the conjugations in a string, but I can’t
remember which to say when. When I am in
church I recognize lots of words when people are talking but they usually talk
faster than I can translate. You must
come to a point where you don’t need to translate. Mike is getting so he understands most things
at church but he still struggles with speaking, mostly because he wants to
speak perfectly as he is a grammar aficionado.
I keep a journal in Spanish every day.
I can write better than I can speak.
I don’t think I will ever be a proficient. I am in awe of the young missionaries but they are talking in the streets every day and we speak English to each other all day. Sorry about this distraction.
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The Warden by Anthony Trollop
I have a “free books” app on
my i-pad. My Goodreads friend Rebecca
Bateman posted a review of “The Warden” and gave it 4 stars. I found it on the app so decided I would read
it a little on those days when I just needed to check out a bit and rest my
brain from studying Spanish. I adore old English
literature. Language is important to me
when I read a novel. Anthony Trollop’s
style pleases me. (Me gusta el estilo de
Anthony Trollop.) A little Spanish for you.
This is the story of Septimus
Harding a sweet and gentle elderly man who for 10 years has been the Warden of
the Barchester Hospital. There are 12
old men living in the hospital who would probably starve without this
charity. About 400 years ago a rich man, in his will,
set up this hospital from lands he owned, to house 12 men at a time, to be
cared for in their old age. Over the
years interest on the value of the land has grown to a substantial sum and the
Warden is now living in a nice house on the premises with a salary of 800
pounds a year, which is nice, but not an extravagant sum. The old men get all of their needs cared for
plus a little stipend every month. Mr.
Harding has become an attentive friend to them and is dearly loved by them
all.
Mr. Harding has a daughter
who is romantically attached to a young man, John Bold, who becomes involved in
a lawsuit questioning the Warden’s right to the money he receives for the care
of the old men. Bold believes that the will meant for the old men to get all of
the money and the men are convinced by Bold and others that they are entitled to
100 pounds a year each. All but one sign a
petition to move the lawsuit forward. Bold
is determined to pursue the suit , even though he knows this will put a strain on
the relationship with the love of his life.
He is convinced that it is the
honorable thing to do, regardless of the consequences. Mr. Harding has one ally in the
group of old men, Bunce. He says bitterly at one point, “Did
you ever know a poor man made better by law or a lawyer? “ (True today)
Mr. Harding has another
daughter married to the archdeacon of Barchester and rector of Plumstead
Episcopi, Dr. Grantly. Grantly’s father
is the Bishop there. John Bold ends up
involving the powerful newspaper and several articles are published with
scathing indictments of the Warden’s undeserved salary. Mr.
Harding is the kind of honest gentle soul who is injured to the very core over
the things that were misrepresented in the newspaper. Dr. Gantly and the Bishop put pressure on him
to fight, when all he wants to do is resign his post if there is any doubt that
he is indeed not entitled to the money.
A large theme of the book for me was
the power of the press: “I know he wrote those articles,” said Bold
to himself. “I know he got his
information from me. He was ready enough
to take my word for gospel when it suited his own views, and to set Mr. Harding
up before the public as an impostor on no other testimony than my chance conversation;
but when I offer him real evidence opposed to his own views, he tells me that
private motives are detrimental to public justice! Confound his arrogance! What is any public question but a
conglomeration of private interests?
What is any newspaper article but an expression of the views taken by
one side? Truth! It takes an age to ascertain the truth of any
question! The idea of Tom Towers talking
of public motives and purity of purpose!
Why, it wouldn’t give him a moment’s uneasiness to change his politics
tomorrow, if the paper required it.” (Some things never change.)
The Warden is an honest man of
character, who refuses to be pushed or influenced to do anything that he doesn’t
believe is right. He faces living the
rest of his life in near poverty rather than have others believe he is doing
wrong, even as the Attorney General absolves him of any wrongdoing.
This is a nice little read,
with good human insights. The
relationship of Mr. Harding and his younger daughter is sweet. The little romance between this daughter and
John Bold is pivotal. I will give it 4
out of 5 stars. This book is a quick
read, compared to some of Trollops other books. I have downloaded “Doctor Thorne.” I will definitely read more of Trollops
books.
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