pickI was very surprised to find a book so critical of male arrogance written by a Victorian male! Meredith is ruthless with his brethren, laying bare their egotistical folly. The antagonist, Willoughby, is the epitome of self-centered narcissism. The story is about his search for a bride and his bewilderment about how rough his path is. I mean, how can that be? Why don‘t these girls realize how lucky they are that graced them with his attention?🤦♀️
I got the Christmas library books my spouse picked out for me! We have How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer, The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh, Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera and Bill Cleaver, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, The Egoist by George Meredith, and Irving and Muktuk by Daniel and Jill Pinkwater. I just finished Mackintosh's Blue Ticket, so I might prioritize The Water Cure...but first, the traditional Christmas lasagna.
so-soFell ill and lost my passport (phone) this past week, so I stayed in England longer than expected. But I‘ve reached the coast at Brighton, where I took this pic 13 years ago of Brighton Pavilion, built by George IV.
Speaking of egoists and the 19th century, this book isn‘t my first choice for a 19c novel—it meandered and the end was meh. But it had amazing quotes. Wish I could work “It was a naughty Court” into my legal briefs! #backpackEurope
“[Y]oung women are trained to cowardice. For them to front an evil with plain speech is to be guilty of effrontery and forfeit the waxen polish of purity, and therewith their commanding place in the market. They are trained to please men‘s taste, for which purpose they soon learn to live out of themselves, and look on themselves, almost as little disturbed as he by the undiscovered.”
Meredith=feminist? All I know is I love no-work Sunday reading.
I have no idea whether Tolkien ever went to the Henley Regatta, but I‘ll drink enough Pimm‘s to pretend he did. #backpackEurope
“[L]ove is an affair of two, and is only for two that can be as quick, as constant in intercommunication as are sun and earth, through the cloud or face to face. They take their breath of life from one another in signs of affection, proofs of faithfulness, incentives to admiration.”
Loving this book, and an English ale (the World Cup Special) at the Public Option. If you‘re in DC, please check this bar out. #backpackEurope
“Strange eclipse, when the hue of truth comes shadowing over our bright ideal planet. It will not seem the planet‘s fault, but truth‘s. Reality is the offender; delusion our treasure that we are robbed of. Then begins with us the term of wilful delusion, and its necessary accompaniment of the disgust of reality; exhausting the heart much more than patient endurance of starvation.”
7/4 in DC=heat+delusion. Good to be in England? #backpackEurope
And the best travel companions keep on coming. Anthony Bourdain is here with “The Layover” in London. #backpackEurope
Catching a redeye from DC, the city with the most and worst egoists, to Heathrow with “The Egoist.” Hectic schedule between work and just getting back from an amazing journey to Mexico with Sybille Bedford. I may run into her again while I‘m in Europe, though. #backpackEurope
And I‘m taking the couch with me. It‘s way more comfortable than coach.
The Egoist | 
