That Mighty Sculptor, Time by Marguerite YourcenarMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. The increased traffic, the longer mall hours, the bigger crowds… yup, it’s the season when we see girls and boys selling lanterns on the street indeed.
And of course, things are also getting rather tense at work. Even the most joyful occupations have weeks that are high-stress, and mine is not exempt as my co-teachers and I have been putting in more hours coaching for an upcoming interschool competition and other events.
That’s why I chose this slim volume for my weekend de-stress read. Some people book mani-pedi-massages. I schedule an hour or two of reading on weekends.
Marguerite Yourcenar mesmerized me in her glorious Memoirs of Hadrian, which is “one of those works which continue to feed you… and which, to a certain degree, transform you.” And so I was thrilled to chance upon this preloved volume, typing MINE so hastily in the comments, I nearly broke a finger pressing ENTER!
I did not realize it was a collection of essays, and the range of topics astonished me! From Tantric philosophy to Japanese warrior poets, from a short history of Christianity in England to a humanist view of Christmas (“a festival of joy shaded with pathos”), Halloween (“Hallowed all: all souls are sanctified”), and other festivals borne from myth (“those great truths which are beyond us but which we need in order to live”)… she lifted me out of 2022 and into that interior world where pupils of life and art retreat in order to make sense of all we’ve seen and read.
“All Paradises are within,” she reminds us. And it was pretty much Paradise for this happy reader, especially since the Northern cup of toffee nut latte tasted so nice, compared to the watered-down swill in the Southern branches of the same overpriced franchise.
And just like that, I feel ready to take on this week’s challenges! May your week be merry and bright, and full of light!
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