Aug 14 2022 - Happy Endings

 

What about those happy endings in novels and stories?   The people involved are happy or all the problems are solved.  Full resolution.  Why are they important? Google tells us: "Because happy endings provide hope, instilling the belief that obstacles can be overcome, love can last, fences can be mended, and good can triumph. "  And what classic novels have happy endings?  I started to realize that happy endings are few and far between - they seem to occur in comedies to me.  Like Midsummer's Nights Dream and not All's Well that Ends Well.  (That one is strange.) Finding lists of classic fiction with happy endings is a treasure hunt with surprises all along the way.  The list includes all kinds of fiction that I wouldn't consider having happy endings.  My rationale is that comedies can have happy endings, but tragedies not so easy.  Can the Lord of the Rings tragic world be turned happy in the final conclusion of The Return of the King? "Not only has the War of the Ring come to an end, after Saruman is slain in the Shire, but Aragorn returns to his rightful throne, and Sam marries Rosie Cotton, who he's long had eyes for." And listed is A Tale of Two Cities.  How can this be happy?  The rationale is that the novel ends with warmly positive words, as thought by Carton shortly before his execution, and gives us one of the most famous lines in Western literature: "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." Even Candide is said to have a happy ending: Seeking happiness throughout the novel, it seems that because he has learned to make his own happiness that the ending is a happy ending.  Candide tells his mentor that they must "cultivate their garden." The book concludes with him working on a small farm, "free of three great evils: boredom, vice and necessity."  The critic Northrop Frye has written: “Happy endings do not impress us as true, but as desirable, and they are brought about by manipulations. the watcher of death and tragedy has nothing to do but sit and wait for the inevitable end; but something gets born at the end of comedy, and the watcher is a member of a busy society.”

I found this picture of the Good Earth Restaurant and Winery.  It is from 2012 or so.  This section now is fully covered in wisteria so completely shaded.  It is a patio with tables - no more gravel on the ground.  Mind you, this is a pleasant setting.  Definitely would be the place for a comedy with a happy ending. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Dec 16 2020 Beethoven Christmas Birthday

 

This picture comes from Bing the Microsoft search engine.  It celebrates German composer Ludwig van Beethoven's 250 birthday today.  I don't know what makes wikipedia include his height as a statistic to his fame.   It does include his most popular piano compositions, and the name of his assumed illegitimate daughter - Minona Maria Theresia Selma Loisa Cornelia von Stackelberg.  Isn't that a mouthful.   Bing says "this scene at Bonn's Münsterplatz features the city's enduring Beethoven Monument (at rear), seemingly swarmed by an additional 700 green- and gold-coloured Beethoven statues. Created by German conceptual artist Ottmar Hörl, the colourful statues were placed in the square last year in the run-up to the composer's birthday. Beethoven concerts and celebrations had been planned in Germany and around the world throughout 2020 in honour of this milestone anniversary. Most have been pushed to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but with a quick Bing video search for your favourite symphony or sonata, you can join the world in appreciating Beethoven's radical creativity." Are there Beethoven Jokes?  With 250 years to come up with things, there certainly are: When Beethoven passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple days later, the town drunk was walking through the cemetery and heard some strange noise coming from the area where Beethoven was buried. Terrified, the drunk ran and got the priest to come and listen to it. The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave. Frightened, the priest ran and got the town magistrate. When the magistrate arrived, he bent his ear to the grave, listened for a moment, and said, "Ah, yes, that's Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, being played backwards." He listened a while longer, and said, "There's the Eighth Symphony, and it's backwards, too. Most puzzling." So the magistrate kept listening; "There's the Seventh... the Sixth... the Fifth..." Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate; he stood up and announced to the crowd that had gathered in the cemetery, "My fellow citizens, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Beethoven decomposing." This little building is behind the Good Earth restaurant. It was given a stormy sky for a moody look, and seems to be a good fit with Beethoven today.  I expect I could take its picture in the snow later today.  Read past POTDs at my Blog: https://marilyncornwell.blogspot.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca