Voyage around my Room
A book I would love to read one of these days. (learnd about it at shamash)
Here is The complete review's Review:
In 1790 Xavier de Maistre was punished for having gotten into a duel by being put under house arrest for forty-two days. De Maistre took advantage of his sequestration, finding within his own four walls a wealth of material to dwell on. His short book, Voyage around my Room, recounts his expeditions during that time. It is a travel book like no other.
De Maistre suffered few hardships: he had his faithful servant tending to his daily needs, and his dog, Rosine, is a stalwart companion. Physically de Maistre could not roam far and so most of the travels were, indeed, leaps of the imagination -- but he did find a surprising amount of material in his fairly comfortable room. He slowly leads the reader around it, describing the pictures on the walls, the vistas and prospects within and beyond the room, exploring and dwelling on objects that are otherwise taken for granted. And what he see brings back memories, focusses ideas, leads him to look at things anew. De Maistre proceeds at a leisurely pace -- and is disappointed (as is the reader) at how soon the allotted time is up, knowing that in the outside world everyday life will not permit such fine contemplation. The room is "that enchanted realm containing all the wealth and riches of the world", revealed and revelled in when he has the time and peace to dwell on it. From the pleasures of waking or the contemplation of ancient myths, de Maistre describes his journeys -- his flights of fancy -- .
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3 comments:
glad you liked the pessoa poem. it's one of my favorites. it's funny, i've picked this book up at the bookstore at least 50 times thinking i should read it, but always something else jumping to the foreground... perhaps someday soon...
Hello moon your new home is so clean and undistracting.....I wish to give you a new home welcoming gift.....an imaginary this and that to put in the corners.. still shopping in the imagination store.
I want to pick out just he right gift for you. Perhaps a honey colored moon to linger in a corner... or a tapestry of life to walk upon.......I am on a budget, so the qift must be illusive and omni diversatil........much love linda
It is a Buddhist sort of exercise isn't it?
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