Sunday, February 3, 2013

I am having trouble with spacing on blogger today, sorry.

Both quotes are from Ross Lockwood's fascinating
1948 novel Raintree County



Spoiler alert it is over 
1000 pages long. The first copy I read was from a university
library, it still had a stamped slip in the back indicating
it had been been taken out 5 or 6 time but by about 400
pages I found it had been misbound and the central section
of 100 pages were missing. Apparently no one else had 
it mentioned  that was their loss.. I then scoured town until I 
found a copy of the January Book-of-the-Month Club edition.
Eventually I also contacted the Raintree County Home Page
and Ross's son Larry generously sent me a copy of his
biography of his father Shade of the Raintree. The novel also
won a $150,000 prize from MGM for the movie rights which
then became by all accounts an terrible movie starring among others
Elizabeth Taylor.  The novel make use of the stream-of-consciousness 
techniques and in many ways reminds me of Whitman's work 
where one is swept along by the beauty of the language and the 
breathless pace and scope of the of the author's vision

For more information I encourage you 
visit the Raintree County Home Page, or visit Raintree County
itself through the pages of the novel 


"... which had no boundaries in time and space,
where lurked musical and strange names and mythical
and lost peoples, and which was itself only a name
musical and strange."



Another week at the Research park included fleeting
glimpses.



The beauty of the ordinary, I love the feet.

  






A meditation on the uses of small twigs by small birds
intent on baffling predators and photographers.



And  glimpse of an old friend.


 












" Hard roads and wide will run through Raintree County,
and its ancient boundaries will dissolve. People will hunt it
on the map, and it won't be there. For America will become
the City. America will hunt for a tree of life whose fruit is gold.
And that man shall be the Hero of the County who plucks from
the high branches the heaviest dividends. "

4 comments:

kerrdelune said...

I loved all these images, and thank you for the Raintree quotes - I shall have to read the book again.

Guy said...

Hi Cate

I am glad your enjoyed the post. Given the length I tend to flip thru it now.

All the best.
Guy

Kathie Brown said...

Guy, I have never seen or read the novel but I did watch that movie...once. It was a long time ago and I think it was very depressing. However, the quote are nice and I love your photos. Is that a magpie in the first pic? Your snowshoe hare looks so peaceful.

Thanks of rall your visits to my blog and all your kind comments. Gus' vision is vastly improved for which we are both pleased and very thankful!

Guy said...

Hi Kathie

That is indeed a Magpie in the first photo. I am glad you like the quotes, Raintree County can be a bit of a slog and there are certainly depressing bits but I did like the beauty of the language.
It would have been interesting to see what he would have produced if
if Lockridge had not committed suicide, it was such a tragedy. I am really glad Gus continues to do well that is such great news.

All the best to both of you.
Guy