December 2011: Old Christmas -- Favorites (Classics Book Club)

[Derwin]

Have a favorite quote, character or scene? Feel free to post it here.

[Derwin]

One of my favorite quotes is from the Arther Conan Doyle character, Sherlock Holmes, in the story "A Case of Mistaken Identity" where he makes the following statement:

"My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and leading to the most outre results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable."

This quote has stuck with me ever since the first time I read it, I guess because it is so very true!

[Derwin]

That is an interesting quote, and I do love Sherlock Holmes. However, I can't seem to figure out how it pertains to the book Old Christmas by Washington Irving, which is our December selection for the Classics book club.

[Derwin]

That is an interesting quote, and I do love Sherlock Holmes. However, I can't seem to figure out how it pertains to the book Old Christmas by Washington Irving, which is our December selection for the Classics book club.

LOL. I chalk this up to waking up in the middle of the night and logging onto the club. With eyes barely open, and the mind still half sleeping, I decided to post neglecting to read the entire heading!

Sorry! lol

[Starfist52]

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"
From 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

[ABthree]

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"
From 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

DB, looks like people are still unclear on the concept!

For those still wondering, these "Quotes" threads in the Book Clubs are for favorite quotes from the current month's selection.

[Derwin]

LOL, I even changed the thread title, even though the forum location appears in the thread listings. And after the last time of misposts a couple months ago, I changed this thread to just "favorites" instead of favorite quotes. Oh what to do, what to do ...

[Derwin]

"The world has become more worldly. There is more of dissipation, and less of enjoyment. Pleasure has expanded into a broader, but a shallower stream, and has forsaken many of those deep and quiet channels where it flowed sweetly through the calm bosom of domestic life. Society has acquired a more enlightened and elegant tone; but it has lost many of its homebred feelings, its honest fireside delights. The traditionary customs of golden-hearted antiquity, its feudal hospitalities, and lordly wassailings, have passed away with the baronial castles and stately manor-houses in which they were celebrated." (Christmas, pg. 14)

[GlennJ]

A rough translation of the Latin at the start of The Stagecoach:

Omne bene = All's well
Sine poena = Without punishment
Tempus est ludendi; = It's time for play
Venit hora = The hour is come
Absque mora = Without delay
Libros deponendi. = To put books away.

[Derwin]

Probably the poem was written by a student who was looking forward to holiday vacation.

The first part (Chapter 1) certainly was a very dry read. I had a difficult time figuring out if the writer was bemoaning the traditional celebratory customs or lauding the present day customs.

I love the description of the coachman in Stagecoach, and the picture of the master sitting by the fireplace with his dog.