A Very Separate Peace

When I first started teaching, John Knowles' novel, A Separate Peace was a part of the curriculum.  When I first read it, I loved it.  Although the world of these students was fairly different from mine, I could still relate to a lot of what they were going through.  However, my students didn't have a clue.  But that's another post.

There is a lot of talk about other Ivy League/Prep School books.  But this is one that I rarely read about in the blogosphere, so I'd like to throw a few bits to the wolves.  Here are some great (if not seemingly superficial) excerpts to consider:

     The Devon faculty had never before experienced a student who combined a calm ignorance of the rules with a wining urge to be good, who seemed to love the school truly and deeply, and never more than when he was breaking the regulations, a model boy who was most comfortable in the truant's corner (16).

Many a pink-shirted patron should enjoy this one:

     Phineas was the essence of this careless peace. [...H]e began to dress, that is he began reaching for whatever clothes were nearest, some of them mine.  Then he stopped to consider, and went over to the dresser.  Out of one of the drawers he lifted a finely woven broadcloth shirt, carefully cut, and very pink.

     "What's that thing?"

     [...]

     "This," he then answered with some pride, "is going to be my emblem.  Ma sent it up last week.  Did you ever see stuff like this, and a color like this?  It doesn't even button all the way down.  You have to pull it over your head, like this."

     "Over your head?  Pink!  It makes you look like a fairy!"

     [...]

     He did wear it.  No one else in the school could have done so without some risk of having it torn from his back.  [...]  It was hypnotism.  I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything" (19-20).

He even goes so far as to wear the school tie for his belt--but, of course, gets away with it.

The clothing is interesting, but I think the attitude is what really draws my attention.  Anyone familiar with the novel knows that Phineas is not trying to push buttons or be a jerk.  It's simply who he is.  He's larger than life and unconcerned about what others think of him. Not that he doesn't care about others; he does.  He simply has an innocence in regards to others' opinions of him. 

This is something that a lot of folks try to affect, but it very obviously comes off as affectation.  Finny is their ideal, but, tragically, an ideal they can never reach, because they have already become self-aware.  Maybe that's a good place to stop for this post.  Not sure if I want to tackle that one...

Civilization

What follows is the introduction to the second edition (1922) of Emily Post's Etiquette: In Society, In Business, In Politics and at Home, as swiped from Project Guttenburg.  It's pretty lengthy.  I had intended to cut it down a bit, but as I was reading it, I found that there wasn't anything I could eliminate.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the "rules" that we forget why the rules are there in the first place.


INTRODUCTION

MANNERS AND MORALS

By

Richard Duffy

Many who scoff at a book of etiquette would be shocked to hear the least expression of levity touching the Ten Commandments. But the Commandments do not always prevent such virtuous scoffers from dealings with their neighbor of which no gentleman could be capable and retain his claim to the title. Though it may require ingenuity to reconcile their actions with the Decalogue--the ingenuity is always forthcoming. There is no intention in this remark to intimate that there is any higher rule of life than the Ten Commandments; only it is illuminating as showing the relationship between manners and morals, which is too often overlooked. The polished gentleman of sentimental fiction has so long served as the type of smooth and conscienceless depravity that urbanity of demeanor inspires distrust in ruder minds. On the other hand, the blunt, unpolished hero of melodrama and romantic fiction has lifted brusqueness and pushfulness to a pedestal not wholly merited. Consequently, the kinship between conduct that keeps us within the law and conduct that makes civilized life worthy to be called such, deserves to be noted with emphasis. The Chinese sage, Confucius, could not tolerate the suggestion that virtue is in itself enough without politeness, for he viewed them as inseparable and "saw courtesies as coming from the heart," maintaining that "when they are practised with all the heart, a moral elevation ensues."

A Whole Man

I've been reading George, Being George (edited by Nelson W. Aldrich, Jr.).  It's much more interesting than a straight-forward biography, because it is a collection of interviews by people who knew George Plimpton.  I'm only about halfway through (into the founding of The Paris Review), but the "George" who has emerged is a man to emulate.

KATHY AINSWORTH: "[...] I'd never had an adult gentleman with beautiful manners, lots of fun, a wonderful dancer, who took me everywhere.  He was my first sort of knight errant.  He introduced me to everything.  He told me what to read.  Whether it was culunary, literary, or in bed, he taught me everything.  I expected there to be another George in my life, but there never was.  There was either passion and no manners, or there were lots of manners and no passion, or they didn't read, or I don't know.  He was a whole man."

Sound Advice

A Suitable Wardrobe's post for today comes from a guest-writer, Stephen Pulvirent, of Simply Refined.  I'll refrain from re-posting the entire article, although it's great and you should read it if you haven't done so already.  Instead, I'll just post the ending here:

My Kind of Prep

I'm a big fan of F.E. Castleberry's Unabashedly Prep.  Normally, his over-all looks are a bit "young" for an old geezer like me.  But I rarely fail to find a piece or two that I can apply somewhere.  Well, yesterday's post  was spot-on for me.

The vest may be pushing my boundaries, but everything else is great.  I'm a real sucker for tweed and striped socks.

By George

To follow up my post on the Buckley football game, I thought I'd post some more Life pictures I found another of my non-fashion heroes, George Plimpton.

The thing I like about both of these guys is how careless and relaxed they appear.  How uncool, and yet cool, they are.

There's a great picture of Buckley in the Life article I was talking about last time, where he is sitting in on a family all-night painting session.  It's on page 39.  His hair is a mess, his sleeves are rolled up, and he is totally absorbed in what he is doing.  Yet, for some reason, he looks like a great mess.

There is a certain self-confidence that comes through with both of these gentlemen that I hope to attain some day.

Buckley Style

I am a huge fan of Life Magazine archives on Google books.  I would love to have old copies of these magazines, but my wife would never let me take up that much storage space.  So here's the next best thing.

One of the articles that I found interesting was a profile on the Buckley family.  There's quite a bit of history in this article about this impressive clan.  But I think I loved the pictures even more.  I've always enjoyed pictures of the Kennedys at home.  But there's something messier about the Buckleys that I find very refreshing.  I've included a couple of photos here from Life images at Google.  I just can't imagine Jack Kennedy allowing himself to look as goofy (and human) as William F. Buckley does.  He looks like he's really having fun--not just posing.  Enjoy.

I really like his sister, Priscilla, in the William F. sweatshirt.  Can't imagine Pat Kennedy running around in a  sweatshirt with Jack's picture on it.

"Something in the way she Says..."

(Okay, so that was a bad use of the beginning of a great line.  Sorry.  But it came from a British artist, which is topical.)

There is something about the British Accent.  My wife and I were watching Four Weddings and Funeral not long ago and my wife said something to the effect, "Do you notice how someone with a British accent can say the most awful, disgusting things and it still sounds elegant?"  (This in reference to Mr. Grant's prolific use of the "F" word.)

But it's true.  If you watch enough films with British characters (and they must be of a certain class as well...), you'll see what I'm saying.  On the other hand, a lower-class British accent can make a prayer sound dirty (try watching a Guy Ritchie film).

That Time of Year

The tree and decorations are up.  The lights are on outside.  Christmas music on the strings playing quietly in the background.  The fire is dying down.  The kids are in bed.  (And it's only December 2nd!) I'll be honest, Christmas used to depress me.  But after getting married and having kids has changed all of that.  Now that our kids are old enough to get excited about Christmas, it's a bit infectious.  I find myself not getting nauseous in department stores when I hear the Christmas muzak.

Of course, if I got to hang out with these two after my shopping, I think I would definitely feel better about the whole experience!

(Thanks to Easy and Elegant Life for bringing these clips to my attention!)

Responsible Privilege: A Rambling Rant?

I've been spending a lot of time thinking, lately, about what it is about our culture that makes us do what we do.  There has been a lot of analysis lately in the blogosphere about this Ivy League/Prep/WASPy culture.  Most of the time, they are looking at the outward characteristics of this/these groups.  But very little time is spent analyzing the dominate character traits. That's why I like Aldrich's article so much.  He uses the superficial outward appearance to describe what is going on inside of us.

From my experience, the most admirable (some would say foolish) quality about our culture is a very high level of optimism.  We take it for granted that we are going to be around for a long, long time.  Even if we, as individuals, pass away, we take it as a given that our line will stay right where it is for generations.  This is why we invest in property and possessions that will outlive us (and why we are less likely to "waste" our money on short-term investments and items).