For the Classics Book Club discussion at King's Books on Wednesday, February 12, 2014 we read Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley. It's a fairly short book of 90-100 pages first published on 1917. As the coordinator described, it's a "book about books." It is about a mobile bookstore and has a couple of main characters, one of whom is the first-person female narrator, Helen McGill. It is also a story of writers, adventure, and a bit of a coming of age.
The book does have many references to other books and authors and not just when the bookseller, Professor Roger "Redbeard" "Gingersnap" Mifflin is making his pitch. McGill alludes to Kipling when she says, "Yeast is yeast." She describes how her brother Andrew talks about Henry James, but she and her sewing circle have to fall back on "Pollyana." During a sale, "One man kept talking about Harold Bell Wright, but I had to admit that I hadn't heard of him. Evidently the Professor hadn't stocked any of his works. I was tickled to see that after all little Redbeard didn't know everything about literature." (p 78)
One reference involves contentment. In the "Metafiction" section at the beginning, the author states that Helen "used to mutter something about 'adventure in Discontentment'" (p. 1). "Professor" Roger Mifflin reflects, "Broadway: think how symbolic the name is. Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction! But in Brooklyn the way is narrow and they lead to the Heavenly city of Content" (p. 34). I think in a later passage he describes how God gave Man wisdom, beauty and many other blessings, but not contentment. Helen finds that his journal is titled "Thought on the Present Discontents." She reflects, "The title seemed vaguely familiar. I seemed to recall something of the kind from my school days" (p. 69). Maybe she was thinking of the line from Richard the Third.
Speaking of Shakespeare, the Professor remarks how Shakespeare wrote King Lear at age 41. Their treating age 39 and older as "not young anymore" seems so quaint. The professor says he wants to collect "Cloroform Classics" written by authors over 40. Helen's brother Andrew tells her, "Upon my soul you ought to have better sense—at your age and weight." (p. 43)
We had a good discussion at King's Books on February 12. We met one hour earlier at 6 p.m. because the Revelers sing-along was scheduled for 7 p.m. Everyone liked the book. We discussed the changing roles of women during the time period, the idea of bringing books to those who need them, the definition of classic literature, and why we like reading and books. Other books mentioned included An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser and My Book Comes on a Camel. Parnassus is named after Mt. Parnassus in Greece that was the mythical home of the muses. It is also the name of a cafeteria at UW. Someone mentioned that the most popular author of the 19th century was Edward Bulwer-Lytton who we now only known for the sentence "It was a dark and stormy night." A few participants didn't get the memo about the earlier meeting time and arrived at 7 p.m. We continued the discussion until 7:30 p.m. despite the Revelers singing. Next month the book is Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor, a romance set in the 16th century that's 850 pages long. It was one of the most popular books of the 1940s. I'm not sure I'll read it, though.
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