Mari Mann's Blog, page 2

In Search of Lost Time for 100 Years

One hundred years ago, in 1913, the first of Marcel Proust’s seven novels that would become A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, was published. At that time, the title was translated in English as Remembrance of Things Past; now, in a better translation, it is known asIn Search of Lost Time.

A La Recherche du Temps Perdu

Six years ago, on February 18, 2007, I began the Madeleine Moments blog, as a way to share my love of Proust and his work, which I had just finished reading for the first time. I als...

Marcel Proust est mort aujourd’hui en 1922

First a few facts about Proust’s life and a few about the novel, and then to his death. Perhaps Proust got the idea that his one self was actually many selves because of the name his parents gave him: Marcel-Valentin-Louis-Eugene-Georges Proust. He was born on July 10th, 1871, in Auteuil, France, just outside of Paris and will live all of his life in Paris, with occasional vacations by the sea, until his death in 1922. His father (Adrien) was a doctor and his mother (Jeanne) was from a wealth...

Father We Go…

…is the title of my second novel, which I have just finished on May 28, 2012. This book required lots more research than my first one,Parisian by Heart, even though, like that novel, it is a work of fiction. But also like that first book, it is based on historical events. InFather We Go, I have written about the early attempts at colonization, from the first failed English attempts at Roanoke to the eventually successful one at Jamestown, to attempts by French Huguenots and the Spanish. The t...

Book Review: Time traveling through Paris

Reblogged from Pacific NW Author:

This is the cover image from the Amazon site. You need to go to Amazon to look inside the book.

Book Review

Parisian by Heart

Mari Mann

(Kindle & Amazon)

In turns delightful, witty, clever and intriguing, Mari Mann’s novel “Parisian by Heart” reminded me of the absurd Kafka at times, and at other times, a modern magic realism novel. At the heart the novel, told in a first person voice, we meet a woman with a mystery to solve.

Read more… 207 more words

My thanks to...

Q&A and a Giveaway

From March 30th to April 1st, 2012, the Goodreads group, Writers and Readers, is hosting an author Q&A for me – you get to ask questions, I get to answer them. Click here to sign up to participate (you must be a member of Goodreads and the Writers and Readers group to join in; see below for what to do if you are not a member and don't want to join).

Also on Goodreads, I'm having a giveaway for two signed copies of my book- click here to sign up for your chance to win. But Mari (you say), what if I'm not a member of Goodreads?  No fear, folks. Leave your question here on this blog, or scoot over to my She Brings Me Water blog to read about my book and leave a question or comment there, OR (so many choices, yeah?) drift over to my Parisian by Heart Facebook page and like it, leave a question or comment.

Want to know more about me of my book before committing yourself? You can also set sail for Amazon to read my author page there or an excerpt of the book- click here for the book's page or here for my author  page.

Here's a bonus freebie: my next book is close to being finished (the writing part, anyway, then comes the editing and proofing and etc). I'm going to give you some clues and if you can correctly guess what the book is about, I'll send you a free signed copy of Parisian by Heart now, or if you want to wait for it, a copy of the next book. Got it?  Right then, here are the clues:

1. I live on an island off the coast of North Carolina. This island, and another island farther south from here, feature in the book.

2. The book is titled "Father We Go".

3. The Pilgrims from England that landed up in New England were not the first folks on these shores.

That's all you get. Tell me what my next book is about and win!  Or if you have no idea, do one of the things I mentioned above and I'll throw your name in the hat.

The Hat

Nicholas Nickleby

1875 Household Edition of Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. Isn't this a gorgeous book?

Nicholas, his sister Kate, their mother, and evil Uncle Ralph Nickleby

And it has wonderful illustrations by C.S. Reinhart.

"Unhand me, Sir!"

I have been reading this book as part of a Goodreads group, and sharing these pictures with them as well, as I believe that most of them are reading from editions that have no illustrations. I've actually read this book before (please don't tell anyone in the group), but it has been interesting to hear other people's thoughts on the book as they read it.

"Ah!" cried Mr. Mantalini, "Interrupted!"

Mr. Mantalini is one of my favorite characters, even if he is a "demmed" scoundrel, "demmed" and "demnition" being two of his favorite curses. Here he attempts to kill himself because his wife has accused him of ruining them, which he has. Since the attempt is being made with a "breakfast" knife, which I assume is like a butter knife, I doubt it is sincere.

The Infant Phenomenon

This young lady, a member of the theatrical troupe that Nicholas has joined, is billed as the "Infant Phenomenon", and her talent, according to the manager of the troupe, who also happens to be her father, "…is not to be imagined." When Nicholas asks her age, he is told she is ten, to which he replies, "Dear me!" It's extraordinary."

"It was, for the the infant phenomenon, though of short stature, had a comparatively aged countenance, and had moreover been precisely the same age- not perhaps to the full extent of the memory of the oldest inhabitant, but certainly for five good years. But she had been kept up late every night, and put upon an unlimited allowance of gin-and-water from infancy, to prevent her growing tall, and perhaps this system of training had produced in the infant phenomenon these additional phenomena."

Dickens himself had been an actor on the stage for a time, and so one wonders if producing infant phenomena is such a manner as described by Dickens above actually occurred, or if it was just a product of Dickens' fertile imagination. Regardless, despite the fact that this 1875 edition is a beauty inside and out, it is Dickens' words that make any edition a treasure.

Fifth Anniversary

February 18th, 2012, is the Fifth Anniversary of this blog, Madeleine Moments. I've covered a lot of ground in those five years, and somewhere along the way, parts of this blog found its way into my first novel, Parisian by Heart; and so it has come full circle now, in that I post parts of the book here on the blog, and its main page has become the home for the book.

Marcel Proust is here, bien sur, as well as Vincent van Gogh, Charles Dickens, Colette…I've chosen five posts from this blog to re-post here, and five posts from blogs I am following, pour votre plaisir…

First, the five posts from the previous five years:

http://marimann.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/sodom-and-gomorrah/

Colette

http://marimann.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/on-the-day-of-vincent-van-goghs-birth/

The Yellow House

http://marimann.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/two-for-the-price-of-one/

The Works of Charles Dickens

http://marimann.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/marcel-proust-anniversary/

Marcel Proust portrait by Blanche

http://marimann.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/on-writing-and-death/

Marcel Proust by Nadar

And now, the five posts from other blogs:

http://my-provence-photos.blogspot.com/2012/02/lolympe.html

http://afinedayforanepiphany.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/flying-buttresses-gotta-love-them/

http://theblondecoyote.com/2012/02/08/happy-extraterrestrial-culture-day/

http://mediaindulgence.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/honesty-on-the-internet/

http://icyexhale.com/2012/02/14/zen-yoga/

If you are still with me, after all these fives, merci and see you in the next five, and beyond…

Charles Dickens 200th Birthday

February 7th, 2012 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, and all over the world, the occasion is being commemorated, celebrated, noted, and feted.  At Westminster Abbey, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Dickens "final resting place." Somehow, I find it hard to imagine Dickens resting anywhere.

I have heard that as Dickens was writing, he would get up from his writing table (he even had a special traveling writing table with an inkpot and ready-made quill pens) and go to a mirror, where he would speak the lines he was writing for a character and make, on his face, the expressions, the grimaces, the features of each character, and when he had them down in his mind he would return to the writing table and write what he had just modeled in the mirror.

In later years, Dickens would travel the world, giving live performances of his writings, and folks would marvel at how he could embody each character so completely, down to their accents, their speech patterns, their facial expressions. their body language.

Dickens made a cameo appearance in my book, Parisian by Heart, and I will include a bit of it here:

"Well, I…"  I saw Colette's cat eyes shift to a place somewhere over my head. I looked at Marcel, he was also following her gaze. A voice spoke behind me.

"Please forgive me, Mesdames et Monsieur, but I could not resist taking the chance to speak to you without being formally introduced?" The voice had an English accent, and I turned around to look into the face of…

"Dickens. Charles Dickens." He held out his hand to Marcel, who had risen, and after they shook hands, he reached for Colette's hand, then didn't seem to know whether he should shake it or kiss it. He tried a little of both. Colette smiled her cat smile.

Marcel spoke. "And may I present my traveling companion, Suzy." Dickens gave me a little bow. I looked at Marcel, who gave a little shake with his head. "Madame Suzy; a pleasure to meet you. Well!" He clapped his hands together. "The two literary giants ofFrance! I would not have believed I could be so lucky as to meet you on my last night in Paris." Colette leaned forward and gestured towards an empty chair at the table. Dickens seated himself and looked around the table at us all, delight written on his face.     "What brings you to Paris- may I call you Boz?  From one 'literary giant' to another?" Colette asked, lighting another cigarette from the one she was already holding.         "Oh, I should say, certainly you may!" He looked at Marcel, who said nothing. "I am here doing research for a new book I have in mind; I'm tentatively calling it "Tale of Two Cities".

Marcel started forward in his chair, and Colette's laugh rang out across the dining room. I noticed several discrete and a few not so discrete looks in our direction.       "Relax, Marcel, ma cherie, I do not think he means the two cities you are thinking of!" Dickens looked confused as Colette explained, "Marcel thinks you mean Sodom and Gomorrah."

Marcel turned to Dickens and asked, "Two cities, Monsieur?"

"Why, yes – London and Paris. At the time of the Revolution. I have been working on the opening lines; would you like to hear them?" We all nodded.

Dickens pulled some folded pieces of paper from one of his pockets, and began to read: "It was a pretty good time, it was a really bad time…" He looked up at Marcel and Colette, who looked at each other as if waiting for the other to speak. When they did not, Dickens cleared his throat and said, "Needs work, eh? Yes, I thought so. Well, it's not the best of beginnings, but it's not the worst of them either…"

In honor of Charles Dickens 200th birthdday, I am having a giveaway of my book. Leave a comment here, or like my Facebook page, and you will be entered in the contest to receive a signed copy of Parisian by Heart.

Happy 200th, Charles Dickens!

Putting a face on the book

My book's face prominently displays a bracelet in a photograph taken by my husband. The bracelet was given to me in 2005 by the owner of a store in the Clignancourt flea market in Paris, France. I wrote about this gift in the book:

"Pardon, Monsieur", I said, in my best French accent. He stood up and said, "Oui, Madame?"

I held out the bracelet to him and said, "C'est combien?" He took the bracelet from me and looked closely at it.

Then he held it back out to me in one hand, put his other hand over his heart and said, "Je tiens a vous donner ceci comme un cadeau de mon coeur." That sounded to me like he was saying that he wanted to give it to me, as a gift from his heart, but I wanted to be sure.

"Pardon?", I asked, and he said the same thing again and handed it back to me.

"Merci," I said, "merci beaucoup!"

I didn't know why he was giving it to me, but I was very pleased and grateful. After exchanging smiles with the man, I went back outside just in time to see my husband coming out of the shop next door with a handful of antique postcards.

"Look what I got!", I said, and handed him the bracelet. "The man, I guess he was the owner, gave it to me but I don't know why", and I told him what the man had said, about it being a gift from his heart.

"I see why he gave it to you," my husband said, pointing to one of the scenes on the bracelet that I had missed.  "See the date? And he knew you were American."

I looked closely at the date on the scene that he was pointing to: it read "Paris Liberation 1944" and showed a ship sailing. I felt dizzy and sat down on the curb. It was a bracelet made to commemorate the liberation ofParisby American forces during World War II, and from all the hundreds of items in that shop, I had chosen this one. As I clutched the bracelet in my hand, I remembered seeing the photographer lying wounded on the floor of the hotel."

As well as having a face on my book, my book now has a Facebook page.

 

Small and local and…

…and they are a bookstore! Actually, there are three of them, called Barritt's Books, and you can buy signed copies of my book, Parisian by Heart, there.

November 26th is Small Business Saturday, and yes, I know the idea is backed by a certain credit card company, I like the idea anyhow. But pay with cash at your local small business, or to the person who makes the homemade gifts or grows the homegrown food, because when you pay cash, trade or barter, there are no fees, you are directly helping out your community, and you don't get any deeper in debt.

If you are too far away to shop at your local Barritt's store, contact me (leave a comment here or email me) for info on how to get your signed copy inscribed personally to you, or if you are buying the book for a gift, to your gift recipient. Merci!

Cyber Monday update: Parisian by Heart is also available on Kindle. Buying someone a Kindle as a gift? Give them their new Kindle already loaded with Parisian by Heart.