HOW I would love to do this one day, gossip under a champagne-laden table!
Of course, when I say gossip I only mean the positive form --exchange of news and ideas-- "good" gossip. I don't mean the claustrophobic gossip meant to do harm or used for social control. This is the kind of gossip which, as George Elliot shows in Middlemarch, is positively evil and should be avoided at all costs.
"Good" gossip can be found in a wide spectrum of novels, ranging from Charlotte Bronte's Villette, where Lucy and Ginevra gossip about the men at a ball, to Fifty Shades of Grey, where Ana and Kate sometimes gossip about Christian <3 In Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, Elinor's strict refusal to do even "good" gossip is shown to be actually harmful and repressive!
I wish you all a great start to the week! xxx
START the week with beauty, roses and a good book! The roses book I had ordered has arrived, and I will review it for The Lipstick Papers as soon as I read. A lot of thanks to all who read this blog! New posts coming soon! xxx
HI all, this weekend I am going to talk about a book I have just started. It is a Greek Cypriot special edition book, which also exists in English translation, and is called, The Cyprian: The Aphrodite of Cyprus in Ancient Sources and Archaeological Accounts!
The book was commissioned, funded and published by the Leventis Foundation, which is a Cypriot cultural and research institution.
Though I have just started it, I am impressed by how much lovely historical, cultural and archaeological information there is inside about Aphrodite!
Aphrodite is among my favorite Goddesses and I am proud she comes from Cyprus! However, it is difficult to pick a patron Greek Goddess, because, (a) they are all cool, and (b) being jealous deities, you don't want to anger anyone by picking another!
;-)
At any rate, this book contains an incredible amount of reference from ancient sources and a wonderful collection of photographs from archaeological sites and findings.
Also, it features some new developments in Aphrodite research, such as the new Aphrodite temple discovered near Larnaca (the Ancient Kition, Κίτιον).
According to Homer, Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione, a Goddess who bore Zeus this beautiful girl. According to Hesiod, however, she was born from the sea foam outside of Paphos. Shakespeare follows the Paphos story, calling Aphrodite "the Paphian", the Pafitissa (η Παφίτισσα) as we would say in my native Cypriot Greek. I think Aphrodite is not only the Goddess of beauty, but also the Goddess of Mermaids!
Until next weekend, xxx
WHETHER you are on the beach, working, doing something creative or all three of them together, have a great Friday -- with beauty and summer in the heart! The Lipstick Papers Weekend review coming soon! xxx
THIS is my own illustration for an article I am writing on Charlotte Bronte's Villette! It shows my favorite character, Ginevra Fanshawe, wearing the famous crimson dress!
Villette is an unusual, as well as a slightly odd, novel, but it is also a treasure trove for Victorian fashions and Victorian attitudes to fashion!
WOMEN have a lovely relationship with cars, as anyone who has seen Amber Heard's driving scenes in Three Days to Kill can testify!
The car has been a major vehicle for women's freedom and independence (pun intended). When she becomes an adult, one of the first things Judith Dunbar in Coming Home buys is a car, which gives her freedom of movement away from family and friends. This Rosamunde Pilcher book has much to go against it, especially its treatment of class issues; however, it is great in the way it speaks about female independence and female beauty. Female beauty and cleverness go together!
About cars, any Fifty Shades reader will know that Anastasia Steele is a fearless driver, and that a lot of action happens in cars!
Have a lovely Thursday afternoon, always with beauty and a book!
THE LOVE of this blog for mermaids is obvious and well-documented!
Apart from mermaids, French and Celtic mythology gives us the Melusinas, spirits of the water, part woman, part fairy and half fish. The Melusinas are certain to have existed in France, where they have built castles and married mortal men.
In the Harry Potter saga, mermaids, mermen and mer-people are supposed to be monstrous and ugly, yet I don't think this is true. Mythology and folk stories are firm on the beauty of the mermaid, and they cannot all be false. In fact, I have a strong hunch that myths and stories are all real!
Two writers who realized that, if creatures like the mermaids exist, any love between them and humans must be difficult, are Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde -- in The Little Mermaid and The Fisherman and his Soul, respectively.
Mermaids and sirens are supposed to be dangerous as well as seductive, but I don't really think that this is true either. It's only fear of female beauty and power. In A.S. Byatt's Possession, the fish tail signifies female freedom as well as the allure of the exotic!
IN JANE AUSTEN'S Persuasion, a holiday on the seaside is restoring for protagonist Anne Elliott. Near the sea, Anne finds her bloom again, magically turning from plain to beautiful! I will not say anything about Frederic Wentworth, Anne's love interest, because he is always beautiful; even Anne feels slightly piqued that a man's beauty can remain so unaffected -- Frederic can look beautiful even after years of unhappiness out on the sea.
Danger is never faraway for the couple, but Anne and Captain Wentworth both learn a valuable lesson during that seaside holiday.
Persuasion is an autumnal novel, with summer at the heart.
I think it is a lovely love story, and would recommend it even for the beach!
FOR this weekend, The Lipstick Papers travels to Fairy Land, to talk about Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales!
This is a lovely collection of fairy tales from across the world, published by Virago Press in 2005!
The fairy tales are often quite dark; the collection looks back to the time when fairy tales "weren't meant just for children". Thus, there are no stereotyped princesses or fairies. This is a collection for those who enjoy the scary and sinister side of the fair tale.
The black and white illustrations by Corinna Sargood are absolutely marvelous, and Angela Carter's editing work is valuable in and of itself. Angela Carter may be well known to those of you who read magic realism; her untimely death in 1992 has left a vacuum in the world of literature.
For me, this book will always take me back to the time when I first moved to Exeter, coz this is when I bought it, from my local Waterstones! It was a lovely time, with approaching Christmas, and all the bright feeling of a new start.
I recommend the book for anyone who would like to visit the quirky regions of Fairy Land!
THE lovely picture below is so right for The Lipstick Papers, a blog about beauty, fashion, writing, and the writing for beauty and fashion!
Which fiction author writes about beauty best? Tough choice! From the classics I must distinguish Elizabeth Gaskell -- her descriptions of female beauty are absolutely amazing!!!!!!!! Check out Ruth and Cousin Phillis. Also, Mary Elizabeth Braddon for Lady Audley's Secret, and Margaret Oliphant in Hester. Not a very interesting novel, Hester, but it contains one of the best beauty descriptions I have ever read.
From the popular writers, there are many. Judith Krantz, Rosamunde Pilcher (for Judith and the amazing Diana in Coming Home), Colleen McCullough. But, in my view, the award must go to Melanie Rawn, the fantasy writer, for the wonderful descriptions of beautiful women and men in the Dragon Prince and Dragon Star series.
About beautiful men, Cassandra Clare is great for her descriptions of Jace Wayland in Mortal Instruments, but here the award must go to E.L. James for Christian Grey! Yes!
