The Blue Castle Book Club Chapter 32
I admit I struggle doing recaps with these chapters--the previous one, or the one before, I don't remember exactly, I started writing a post, typed the heading and then just sat and stared at the white space, not knowing what to say. What do you have to say about happiness?
I know some members find these chapters dragging, I think they're fine--which is surprising bc I have a poor attention span and can't deal with long descriptions in books. But LMM here combines description with action, making it bearable--she describes the landscape by telling us what Valancy and Barney are doing. The way she talks about the woods and everything, it's like she personifies them, I don't think she does it to this extent in any of her other works? Still, the passages about Valancy waking up at night do go on a bit too long.
But yay, Roaring Abel is back!
He generally brought his fiddle and played for them, to the delight of all except Banjo, who would go temporarily insane and retreat under Valancyâs bed.Â
This is the type of content I am here for.
And not one single word on how he reacted to their marriage.
âA plate of apples, an open fire, and âa jolly goode booke whereon to lookeâ are a fair substitute for heaven,â vowed Barney. âAny one can have the streets of gold. Letâs have another whack at Carman.â
This guy has unresolved baggage with money.
Presumably none of the Stirlings ever thought about herâexcept Cousin Georgiana, who used to lie awake worrying about poor Doss. Did she have enough to eat? Was that dreadful creature good to her? Was she warm enough at nights?
Valancy should invite Cousin G for a visit--I know she didn't want any of them to visit, but she should have Georgiana visit her just once, so that the poor thing stops worrying. Yes, she is warm enough and has enough to eat, and that dreadful creature is good to her. She might even concede that Barney is not that dreadful after all.
It's cool that they still go to town for movies and hot dogs.
It struck Valancy more than once that Barney himself laughed a great deal oftener than he used to and that his laugh had changed. It had become wholesome.Â
Barney has some stuff of his own to go through.
The story Valancy concocted sounds plausible enough. I know the truth, obvs I've read the book more than once, I don't know what I would come up with if I was reading it for the first time now or if I knew someone like that IRL (well, IRL he would be more likely a subject of true crime podcast episode than a love story). He seems more like he is hiding from something or avoiding something.
Of course, the name of the man in the clipping was Bernard Craig. But Valancy had always thought Snaith was an alias. Not that it mattered.
Well, it's your name now too. I have come round to the name Barney (in any case, I can't imagine another name for him) but LMM could have thought of something better sounding than Snaith. Snaith is a town in Yorkshire (about 22 miles from Leeds), it's name derives from the Old Scandinavian word sneið, meaning "piece of land cut off". So, maybe it is appropriate. Island is a piece of land cut off and Barney, by all accounts, also cut himself off from his old life or society.
Poor Valancy, what she went through that stormy night, worrying about Barney! And that is not good for her health!
âBarney, I thought you were dead,â she whispered.
Barney hooted.
âAfter two years of the Klondike did you think a baby storm like this could get me? I spent the night in that old lumber shanty over by Muskoka. A bit cold but snug enough. Little goose! Your eyes look like burnt holes in a blanket. Did you sit up here all night worrying over an old woodsman like me?â
Okay, man, but she is your WIFE, ffs, you cannot physically want her not to be worried about you. Who else is supposed to be worried about you if not her?
"WhenâI saw youâcome round the pointâthereâsomething happened to me. I donât know what. It was as if I had died and come back to life. I canât describe it any other way.â
