Maurya as Garage Sale Fodder Barbie for Halloween.
Maurya is reading “Sense and Sensibility”, by Jane Austen, and proud of it. She tells me about passages she likes while we’re driving together. Today I told her about how Molly and the Virginian debate Jane Austen in Owen Wister’s “The Virginian”. The Virginian wasn’t as impressed with Jane Austen as Maurya is, preferring Shakespeare’s perspicuity to what he decided was Austenian insipidness. The debate itself is striking; the Virginian is an unlearned cowboy, while Molly is educated and articulate. I told Maurya about how Wister makes the Virginian just a little superior in his perfection to the heroine. “So she has character flaws, but he doesn’t?” Maurya was incredulous. That’s right, I told her. While she’s the ideal woman (for an ideal man), she has a few endearing character flaws, while everything about him is endearing, and none of it is flawed. He’s a diamond in the rough, but still a diamond. “ Ugh! Doesn’t that make you mad?” she asked. “Oh yeah, I say. Yep, it does. Wister’s implication is infuriating! That even the best woman isn’t quite as good as the best man. Nevertheless, Maurya. Nevertheless, you’ll love the Virginian. You will; you can’t help it. He’ll ruin you for life; there is no such thing in the wide wide world as a Virginian. But you will absolutely love him. I definitely think you should read it.” Maurya laughed. “You want me to read something that will ruin me for life? Auuggh! What kind of mother are you?”
I doubt she’ll read it, at least for awhile. She prefers Jane Austen’s take on romance and heroines right now. I’ve had a hard time selling “The Virginian” to anyone at all, and I guess that’s ok. The world (or at least the women in it) might be healthier without Wister’s wonderful, unreal hero. Of course, my sisters love him too, because we grew up with Dad reading him to us. Many times. Even Dad was in love with the Virginian.
Last year, Ezra read “Star Girl” by Jerry Spinelli. He wouldn’t put it down til he’d finished it. I’d never seen him so taken by a book, so I read it after he finished it. I loved it too, and I gained some insights into what makes Ezra tick. I was proud of his perspective. When he looked worried or burdened as I dropped him off for school, I’d say “remember Star Girl!” and he’d brighten right up.
Maurya and Meisha indulged in a Star Girl moment of their own. Driving past Hoagie’s, we were talking about the mysterious disappearance of the “drive safe corndogs” phrase on their sign (we all like to pretend it’s our fault, while paradoxically we mourn the loss). The girls begged to stop and ask about the sign, and I let them. They bought a candy bar for me (a Symphony bar, yum) and talked with the clerk, who was generous and friendly. “Well honey I don’t know why it doesn’t say drive safe corn dogs anymore. Everyone seemed to like it,” she said to Maurya. It was an anticlimactic moment, but at least they’d followed through to the end of their adventure. Or was it just a comma, rather than an end? A pause in a long Jane Austen narrative….
