Tea at Trianon: Girl in Translation

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Girl in Translation

I had recently had the privilege of reviewing Girl in Translation on behalf of the BlogHer Book Club. A debut novel by Chinese-American Jean Kwok, Girl in Translation is a heart-wrenching, coming-of-age story about a young girl striving to better herself in spite of life in a modern sweat shop. My review is HERE.
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2 comments:

BurtonReview said...: I reviewed this last year and I remember not being able to put it down. I loved the story and stayed up very late reading it!; May 4, 2011 at 9:17:00 AM EDT
Julygirl said...: I could not put it down either. Skillfully written, engrossing. Thanks EMV for a beautifully written review.

It is unimaginable that such a life is still being lived in 'the good old USA'. I guess I am naive about why officials in NYC allow these blatant human rights violations to continue. I was saddened and appalled.; May 4, 2011 at 8:07:00 PM EDT