Reveling in what is my city (and my favorite author)

I spent the first 6 months in Naruto appreciating it for several things: my amazing supervisor, my co-workers, it's proximity to Kobe, and it's proximity to Tokushima city. As an afterthought, I might have said that it was also nice to be near a beach. However, since I didn't have a car, that locale was generally excluded from my daily going-about. Naruto may be economically dead, but it's certainly not small, and while I might look athletic, I most certainly am not. I kept my bicycle adventures to a minimum.

That being said, since I got my car a few months ago, I have slowly been expanding my daily sphere. In the last two weeks, I have made the beach my own. I have always loved the beach, but not with that tan-Californian bikini vigor. I love the beach for the view, for the cool gray water and the sky that differs only in brightness. I love the beach for the small specs of color in the form of buoys off the shore. I love the beach for the smell of salt and the frigid water that burns my toes. I love the beach for the soft purring of the tide rippling on the shore.

The beach inspires me, uplifts me, makes me feel fresh and relaxed. I've been keeping tennis shoes and workout pants in the car and I'll go for a quick run near the water. I have already found several different spots that I like for either running, walking in the water, or picking up shells.

Yesterday, I gathered a quick dinner of maki tuna salad sushi, kiwi, carrot, and apple juice and headed to the beach with Jane Austen. I've been rereading Pride and Prejudice. It's been about 5 or 6 years since I've read it all the way through. P&P is so incredibly good. I love the wit. Who knows, there might be more posts coming soon in the literary interpretation vein. I love writing about literature.

One thing that has struck me so far: Austen has this to say about Charlotte's marital bliss: "...and though evidently regretting that her visitors were to go, she did not seem to ask for compassion. Her home and her housekeeping, her parish and her poultry, and all their dependent concerns, had not yet lost their charms." (Chapter 38) I sense a bit of a parallel here with Mr. Bennet, who, we would be led to believe, had entered into a similarly unsuitable marriage. However, where Charlotte is still charmed by the advantages of the marriage, Mr. Bennet has long been aware of his own folly and tried to deal with it as best he could. Austen seems quite certain of Charlotte's eventual disillusionment. Elizabeth sees through it all.

Actually, in light of these two examples, one would come to think that this novel is very much about companionate marriage in defiance of everything else. Charlotte's marriage is condemned because, while sensible in an economic light, Charlotte must submit herself to a man of infinitely poorer understanding. Mr. Bennet touches on this fact later when he urges Elizabeth, "My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life" (Chapter 59). Charlotte certainly cannot respect Mr. Collins, and it is this compromise for which Elizabeth condemns her. In the same way, Darcy and Elizabeth fall in love because they ARE suitable for one another despite the unsuitability of her connections, and the same goes for Bingley and Jane, and for that matter, sadly, Lydia and Wickham (though this comparison probably wouldn't stand up to scrutiny). Of course Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are an even more clear example of what-not-to-do than the Mr. and Mrs. Collins. People should fall in love because they can understand one another, because they can connect, because they can respect one another it seems. No doubt Austen herself got to see many examples of this NOT being the case in her daily life. The compromise in Pride and Prejudice is turning marriage into a contract rather than a relationship.

And there you have it. I'm in Japan, quite far away from you all, but still very much the same. I love the beach and I love Jane Austen (and my sushi was amazing!).