Penny J. Johnson's Blog, page 88
June 2, 2015
Chapters
I have decided life is a series of books.
I doubt I am the first to consider how at the end of one chapter another begins. Sometimes it is a literal phenomenon as when writers complete a novel or a collection of poems. It seems that “The End” sparks the enthusiasm to begin sharing. Once sharing, someone decides to publish. In those first moments of announcement, the author realizes the bliss of completion. We throw a party.
Then a new chapter begins.
These chapters come in the form of neglected chapters. For instance, that Les Miserables challenge the author has fallen woefully behind in reading because she had to finish her own book. Much like the laundry pile, it seems monumental. Unlike it, the book will be completed–and commented upon–eventually.
Other chapters resume in a sequel. This time we hope we have learned something from the first saga. But, maybe the same predicaments exist, just in alternate layers.
Suddenly, drama or trauma derails all chapters. This is great for conflict in a novel, but not so fantastic in real life. Because we are the characters. Characters do not get to know how the story ends. Until it does.
These are the stories stowed in the darkest corner of the drawer in a locked box with a map to find the key and directions for the next generation to write them–or burn them. Yet, these just might be the stories of plot-twisting miracles with coming-of-age endings we never could have devised on our own. If we allow these stories’ character development to change us, our lives may actually become novel.
Chapters–long or short, detailed or sparse–build on the tension all writers strive to create. Sometimes life hands it to us on a silver platter. Sometimes we have to dig and claw as if we have been buried alive. Either can be poetic. Either can be a chapter’s conclusion and its catalyst.
April 30, 2015
April 23, 2015
Pre-Order Kindle Version of Where Dreams Abide
Where Dreams Abide is available for Kindle pre-order. Release date in April 30.
April 1, 2015
New Release: Where Dreams Abide
It may be April Fool’s Day, but this is no joke. Click on the link to your copy of Where Dreams Abide today!
Where Dreams Abide: A Poetry Collection
Where Dreams Abide Now Available through Amazon
February 23, 2015
A Year with Les Miz: Fault Lines
“Love is a fault; so be it. Fantine was innocence floating high over fault.”
Is Fantine at fault for her circumstances?
The reader meets Fantine in the company of her devious lover Tholomyes, his three gallivanting friends, and their three fickle, frivolous females. Among them, she is pristine innocence even if plucked from virginal grounding. Where the other women are miffed at Tholomyes and his comrades for deserting them, they seem nonplussed. They move on to other encounters with their own intrigues in mind. Fantine, on the other hand, falls in the chasm left by the earth-shattering reality of trusting the wrong sort of love.
She herself loves completely without abandon. This is seen in her love for Cosette, the actual release of her daughter to strangers when she fears she cannot provide. She shears her head, removes her teeth, pays the increased price never asking why. She knows the reason. Her love for her daughter supersedes her own well-being. For this, she is not at fault.
Perhaps the blindness is not in her devotion to Tholomyes and to Cosette. More likely, it is in her failure to see the faults of others and to not disregard her own trappings in order to keep her daughter from an abusive, loveless existence.
But, then, it is much easier to see the solution standing on the high ground with a full-range vantage point. Not so, for the one caught in the abyss of the fault line with the walls pressing in.
February 9, 2015
A Year with Les Miserables: Reading Schedule for 2015
It isn’t too late to start reading or to get back on course with your reading! If you started on January 1, just keep reading a chapter a day until the end of the year. If you are starting after January 1, you can use the schedule below to catch up to the current date. Or you can start your year today and read a chapter a day for the next 365 days.
Volume I, Book First, Chapters 1-14: January 1-14
Volume I, Book Second, Chapters 1-13: January 15-27
Volume I Book Third, Chapters 1-9: January 28-February 5
Volume I, Book Fourth, Chapters 1-3: February 6-8
Volume I, Book Fifth, Chapters 1-13: February 9-21
Volume I, Book Sixth, Chapters 1-2: February 22-23
Volume I, Book Seventh, Chapters 1-11: February 24-March 6
Volume I, Book Eighth, Chapter 1-5: March 7-11
Volume II, Book First, Chapters 1-19: March 12-30
Volume II, Book Second, Chapters 1-3: March 31-April 2
Volume II, Book Third, Chapters 1-11: April 3-13
Volume II, Book Fourth, Chapters 1-5: April 14-18
Volume II, Book Fifth, Chapters 1-10: April 19-28
Volume II, Book Sixth, Chapters 1-11: April 29-May 9
Volume II, Book Seventh, Chapters 1-8: May 10-17
Volume II, Book Eighth, Chapters 1-9: May 18-26
Volume III, Book First, Chapters 1-13: May 27-June 8
Volume III, Book Second, Chapters 1-8: June 9-16
Volume III, Book Third, Chapters 1-8: June 17-24
Volume III, Book Fourth, Chapters 1-6: June 25-30
Volume III, Book Fifth, Chapters 1-6: July 1-6
Volume III, Book Sixth, Chapters 1-9: July 7-15
Volume III, Book Seventh, Chapters 1-4: July 16-19
Volume III, Book Eighth, Chapters 1-22: July 20-August 10
Volume IV, Book First, Chapters 1-6: August 11-16
Volume IV, Book Second, Chapters 1-4: August 17-20
Volume IV, Book Third, Chapters 1-8: August 21-28
Volume IV, Book Fourth, Chapters 1-2: August 29-30
Volume IV, Book Fifth, Chapters 1-6: August 31-September 5
Volume IV, Book Sixth, Chapters 1-3: September 6-8
Volume IV, Book Seventh, Chapters 1-4: September 7-12
Volume IV, Book Eighth, Chapters 1-7: September 13-19
Volume IV, Book Ninth, Chapters 1-3: September 20-22
Volume IV, Book Tenth, Chapters 1-5: September 23-27
Volume IV, Book Eleventh, Chapters 1-6: September 28-October 2
Volume IV, Book Twelfth, Chapters 1-8: October 3-10
Volume IV, Book Thirteenth, Chapters 1-3: October 11-13
Volume IV, Book Fourteenth, Chapters 1-7: October 14-20
Volume IV, Book Fifteenth, Chapters 1-4: October 21-24
Volume V, Book First, Chapters 1-24: October 25-November 17
Volume V, Book Second, Chapters 1-6: November 18-23
Volume V, Book Third, Chapters 1-12: November 24-December 5
Volume V, Book Fourth, Chapter 1: December 6
Volume V, Book Fifth, Chapter 1-8: December 7-14
Volume V, Book Sixth, Chapter 1-4: December 15-18
Volume V, Book Seventh, Chapters 1-2: December 19-20
Volume V, Book Eighth, Chapters 1-4: December 21-24
Volume V, Book Ninth, Chapters 1-6: December 25-30
Letter to M. Daelli: December 31
January 29, 2015
A Year with Les Miz: Life Sentences
“Do not forget, never forget, that you have promised to use this money in becoming an honest man.”
Les Miz, p. 86
Valjean never promised, not really. Yet, when M. Muriel does not prosecute the theft of the silver and in fact thrusts the forgotten candlesticks at Valjean with the above admonition, Valjean realizes the real punishment for his actions.
Liberation is not deliverance. One gets free from the galleys, but not from the sentence.
Les Miz, p. 80
He now must apply the grace and mercy he has received to others. He must learn to weep again. He must remember what landed him in prison in the first place. His failure with Little Gervais reminds him. His sister’s starving children blinded him with desperation. Now he gets a second chance.
Light entered it on one side, and darkness on the other.
Lez Miz, p. 75
But, what can he do with it once he has failed again? What more is possible after calling and searching in vain for Little Gervais?
Is there not in every human soul…a first spark, a divine element, incorruptible in this world, immortal in the other, which good can develop, fan, ignite, and make to glow with splendor, and which evil can never wholly extinguish?
Les Miz, p. 75
Then there is a crackling within his hardened heart.
That which was certain, that which he did not doubt, was that he was no longer the same man, that everything about him was changed, that it was no longer in his power to make it as though the Bishop had not spoken to him and had not touched him.
Les Miz, p.90
On his knees, he sees this guiding illumination, although as yet he is unsure where it will take him.
In the meantime a gentle light rested over this life and this soul.
Les Miz, p. 92
What promises toward honesty have you forgotten to keep?
Keep up your reading goal! Read through Volume I, Book Third by February 5, 2015.
January 20, 2015
A Year with Les Miz: Lasting Impressions
No one knew him.
Yet, Jean Valjean is judged by the yellow passport he carries. He enters the village, and the people peer at him through veiled windows, slam doors in his face, or leer at him as he walks down the street. He expects it.
People who are crushed do not look behind them. They know too well the evil fate that follows them.
As much as he tries to hide his past, it follows him. He even wears it.
All that could be distinguished of his face, beneath his cap, which was well pulled down, assumed a vague appearance of comfort, mingled with that other poignant aspect which habitual suffering bestows.
It was, moreover, a firm, energetic, and melancholy profile. The physiognomy was strangely composed; it began by seeming humble, and ended by seeming severe. The eye shone beneath its lashes like a fire beneath brushwood.
So he stumbles starving down the streets, seeking a place to sleep. He is turned away from every door including a dog’s den. Why bother with the cathedral if the peasants will not help him? He shakes his fist at that door. Until an old woman questions him further.
You have knocked at all the doors?
Yes.
Have you knocked at that one?
No.
Knock there.
“There” is the Bishop’s home. That unlocked door.
It opened wide with a rapid movement, as though some one had given it an energetic and resolute push.
He did not have to push it. But, when all the other doors are locked, the vagrant expects the same of all. He enters boldly because he is afraid of more rejection. After all, this is the last resort.
When he is met with welcome–after all that is the Bishop’s name–he thrusts out the yellow passport. He casts his past before his benefactor even as silver is placed for him on the table. He almost refuses the offering of a bed as the fresh sheets are being spread. Finally, he relents.
Ignominy thirsts for consideration.
But, he still questions. He wonders at the grace he does not deserve from this Bishop who does not know him.
The door does not demand of him who enters whether he has a name, but whether he has a grief.
Perhaps in that moment he realizes he has an advocate, that first impressions are not always lasting ones.
Have you ever been shocked after you “knocked on that door” and received the help you sought?
Is reading Les Miz every day making an impression? What we read impacts our lives in ways we never imagine. By January 27, read through Volume I, Book Second, Chapter XIII. You may never be the same!
January 13, 2015
A Year with Les Miz: Routine and Rerouting
However, such incidents were rare in his life. We relate those of which we know; but generally he passed his life in doing the same things at the same moment. One month of his year resembled one hour of his day.
from Les Misérables, Volume I, Book First, Chapter VII, page 34-35.
The “such incidents” mentioned in this quotation refers to a deviation is M. Muriel’s routine of tending to the poor in his own village. He determines to visit a community whose cathedral has been ransacked by a band of robbers. His sister and his friend advise him against it because the bandits are still at large, but he claims,
it may be that it is of this very flock of wolves Jesus has constituted me the shepherd” (page 33).
So, he departs with a child (because who would dare bother a priest and a child?), reaches his destination, impacts the robbers so they return what they stole, and returns home unscathed. When questioned again about his actions, he replies:
Let us never fear robbers or murderers. Those dangers from without, petty dangers. Let us fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices are the real murderers. The great dangers lie within ourselves….Let us think only of that which threatens our soul….Let us confine ourselves to prayer, when we think that a danger is approaching us. Let us pray, not for ourselves, but that our brother may not fall into sin on our account (page 34).
Rerouting occasionally happens within the mostly routine life. Sometimes family and friends caution against the journey to which they themselves are not called to travel. Even after success, the departure from the norm might be chastised. To others, it appears reckless and irresponsible. Challenge and comfort can be found in Muriel’s words. A rerouting does not indicate waywardness if it follows the course of personal calling. It may even guide the lawless to regret and reconciliation. It may provide unexpected treasure upon the return to the daily status quo.
What is your reaction to changes in your routine? Do you see rerouting as an opportunity or an oppression?
Rerouted in your reading routine? No worries! Just catch up this week and read through Volume I, Book Second, Chapter III by January 17.
January 5, 2015
A Year with Les Miz: Revolution
The Revolution came.
from Les Misérables, Volume 1, Book First, Chapter 1, page 17
The New Year inspires resolutions. My desire to read Les Misérables this year falls into this category. Perhaps zeal will abandon me, but creating documentation with this blog provides some incentive at least.
Not long into my reading, I came across the above statement, and it prompted a word study. Resolution, as in one made at the beginning of the year, refers to a determination, an intent, or a vow. Revolution implies “a sudden, vast change in a situation, a discipline, or the way of thinking and behaving.”
As France endures wartime revolution at the beginning of Les Misérables, M. Muriel experiences a revolution of his own. His status alters radically from being a married man concerned only with societal mores to a bishop with a pauper’s morale.
In a time of universal deceit–telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell, author of Animal Farm and 1984.
As I considered both of these words and M. Muriel’s transformation, I began to apply these ideas to my own goals for the year. What untried, underachieved areas require renewed commitment on my part? What turning points might I anticipate or encounter that will redefine me by this time next year?
It would be unrealistic to believe that one book could bring a complete change.
Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring.
But, books like Orwell’s and Carson’s at least start the rotation of thought. If anything, I expect my reading of Les Misérables will adjust my perspective on poverty and excess. It may only spark insight. Or an internal battle could ignite between warring ideologies. Perhaps my life-path will swerve in some about-face. Either way, on to the next page.
What other books have influenced a revolution either in the world or in your personal life?
