Author Topic: People of the Book ~ Geraldine Brooks ~ July 15 ~ Book Club Online (Read 131327 times)

JoanP · « **Reply #280 on:** August 07, 2009, 06:07:40 PM »

The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. everyone is welcome to join in.

People of the Book - by Geraldine Brooks

You'll fall in love with Hanna Heath, Geraldine Brooks' edgy Aussie rare book expert with an attitude, a loner with a real passion for her work. How could she refuse this opportunity of a lifetime, the conservation of the beautifully illustrated Sarajevo Haggadah, the mysterious Hebrew manuscript, created in Spain in the 14th century?

The invitation will bring Hanna into war-torn Bosnia in the spring of 1996 and then, into the world of fine art forgers and international fanatics. Her intuitive investigation of the manuscript will put her in a time capsule to medieval Spain and then back to Northern Australia again with a number of stops along the way. This is based on the travels of an actual manuscript, which has surfaced over the centuries since its creation in Spain.

Discussion Schedule:

July 15-19 ~ Hanna, 1996; Insect's Wing;
Sarajevo, 1940
July 20-24 ~ Hanna, Vienna, 1996; Feathers and a Rose;
Hanna, Vienna, Spring '96
July 25-July 31 ~ ~ Wine Stains, Venice 1609;
Hanna, Boston, 1996
August 1 - August 5 ~ Saltwater, Tarragona, 1492;
Hanna, London, Spring, 1996
August 6-August 10~ #5 ~ White Hair, Seville, 1480;
Hanna, Sarajevo, Spring, 1996
August 11-15 Lola, Jerusalem, 2002;
Hanna, Gunumeleng, 2002
August 16-August 20 Afterword

(click twice to really enlarge)

Topics for Discussion
August 6-August 10 ~ "White Hair" ~ Seville, 1480

1. This is the story of Zahra (the Moor) who is brought from Africa to Seville to serve three very different masters. Does GB convey the experience of slavery vividly? How or how not?

2. How does GB convey the atmosphere of Seville in 1480? What do the stories of Zahra’s first two masters (who are not connected to the Haggadah) add to the book?

4. What do we learn about artistic technique and the lives of artists in this section?

5. Based on what we learned in the last section, what do you think happened to Zahra?

6. Is this story a plausible explanation of the presence of a Black woman in the illustrations in the real Hagaddah? Why or why not?

Hanna ~ Sarajevo, Spring '96

1. When Hanna looks at the exhibit surrounding the Haggadah, she says (p.320) “the point- that diverse cultures influence and enrich one another –was made with silent eloquence.” Has GB made this point with “eloquence”? What are some of the ways she has (or hasn’t) done so?

2.Hanna’s accusation of forgery adds one more plot twist. Is this effective dramatically?

3. If you were Hanna, what would be your reaction to your colleagues’ lack of support? Would you have pressed the issue?

Relevant Links:
Geraldine Brooks - Background information; Sarajevo Haggadah; Early Haggadah Manuscripts; Illuminated Manuscripts; Brief History of Illuminating Manuscripts; Around Sevlle Image Gallery;

Discussion Leaders: JoanP, Ann , JoanK, & Traudee

straudetwo · « **Reply #281 on:** August 07, 2009, 09:17:20 PM »

To Q. 3
Hanna couldn't press the issue. Even after a last-minute inspection on site, both men steadfastly maintained everything was just fine, that her claim had no merit. She came to realize that nobody would believe her. Ozren told her the museum would not support her; he would not support her.
She had no chance.

JoanK · « **Reply #282 on:** August 07, 2009, 10:01:45 PM »

What an awful position for her to be in. Her professional competance is her life, and now no one supports it.We'll learn in the last part what her reaction is. What would yours have been?

Frybabe · « **Reply #283 on:** August 07, 2009, 10:39:18 PM »

I think it was a personal as well as professional blow to Hanna when the two of them ganged up and said she made a mistake. One was her former professor; someone who mentored her and she looked up to fondly. With Ozren, she began a personal relationship with some vague thoughts of deepening that relationship. It was a deeply hurtful thing for them to do. Unforgivable in my opinion.

Radioman · « **Reply #284 on:** August 07, 2009, 10:41:40 PM »

Quotation: Joan P "The captive slave is ashamed to be the slave of a Jew!"
The way I interpret this comment in the book is that she is not ashamed to be the slave of a Jew, but rather, a slave: period. Zahra herself points out that it is her 'master' who has created this awareness in her. This would indicate that the doctor shares an enlightenment uncommon in those times. Indeed, I feel she is a slave in name only. The doctor treats her with kindness and respect, and to me she is part of the family, free to ask questions and go about her trade unhindered.
If it was the custom for wealthy families to have slaves, then Zahra, for the sake of appearances would be considered as such but not treated as such.

straudetwo · « **Reply #285 on:** August 08, 2009, 01:07:01 AM »

radioman

Of course, that is exactly what the text conveys.

Frybabe Yes, it was a double blow.

Babi · « **Reply #286 on:** August 08, 2009, 09:49:55 AM »

In the book, the black woman at the table is not a servant, but the artist,
and she is participating in the Seder as a guest. Considering how small she
is in the illustration, and separated from the others, the girl is most likely
a servant. On the other hand, she does appear to be seated and holding a wafer, which would argue she is a guest. Personally, I like Brooks version.

GUM, I can just imagine your cartographer friend haunting old bookstores and
antique shops, to find that old Icelandic book. I don't doubt you about the
parchment degrees from Glasgow. According to my earlier research, "parchment is still the only medium used by religious Jews for Torah scrolls or Tefilin and Mezuzahs, and is produced by large companies in Israel."

JOANP, if I'm not mistaken, Arabic also reads from right to left. As to their
art, the few examples I've found so far suggests that they do the same where
living figures are involved. There are some examples here, though you have to
do some scrolling:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_art#Egypt_and_Syria

JoanP · « **Reply #287 on:** August 08, 2009, 11:11:56 AM »

Good morning!
I've been up early and clearing out old defunct computer and accessories in anticipation of new PC which is on the way to my house as I type. I've been tracking - and it is on the truck, scheduled for delivery today! Exciting!

Your posts sent me back to reread the White Hair chapter this morning. I am so glad I did!
I have to tell you, Don, that I had totally forgotten that the chapter opened in the home of the doctor, Netanel ha-Levi, where Zahra had "served" for two years! Wasn't he a special man! From the first, when he called her by her own name! As you say, he treated her not like a slave - but almost as part of the family. I remember later in the chapter how kind he was to the girl - and how he treated her with respect. I had forgotten he was the same master from the opening paragraph, which is why I asked that question.

"AT first when I came here, I felt ashamed to be enslaved to a Jew. But now my shame is only that I am a slave."

I think that it is her artistic talent that has saved her - from Hooman, from the emir - has brought her to this comfortable state in the home of the doctor. I still wondered at her continuing "shame" that she is a slave. It is in transcribing the stories of the Jews' quest for freedom that whets her own desire for freedom and makes her aware that she is not really free. She yearns for freedom from her bondage, while admitting that her work is honorable and that she is comfortable. This is not her country. "Freedom and a country. The two thngs the Jews craved." She shares the same dream as the Jews.

Do you think she will achieve her freedom? Do you hear rumblings in the distance? Doesn't this sound familiar?

Quote

"Not that he (the emir) will likely reign long enough to need a successor: the breath of the Castilians blows ever hotter. And what will come to any of us then, who knows. The doctor does not speak of it, and there are no signs of any preparations under way if we need to quit this place. I think he has come to believe himself indispensable. whoever is in power..."

If the Jews she serves are forced to leave Seville, what will become of her? Will she go with them? Will she be taken as a slave again...Or will she be free to make her way back home after all. GB has sharpened my imagination...

EvelynMC · « **Reply #288 on:** August 08, 2009, 11:36:44 AM »

I enjoyed this chapter "White Hair" very much. It answered the questions about how the illuminations came to be in the haggadah, leaving us to make up our own minds about the fates of Zahra, the kind Jewish doctor and his family, "Isabella" and the baby girl in the convent, etc.

But we have a glimmering of what happened to Benjamin, the doctor's deaf, mute son. At the beginning of "Saltwater" David Ben Shoushan is in the marketplace and sees these beautiful illuminations. When he tried to ask the boy selling them about them, he is told by a one-armed peasant, "He's a deaf-mute." "I met up with him and his black slave on the road."....."The slave told some wild tale--claimed he's the son of a physician who served the last emir. But you know how it is with slaves, they like to make up tales, eh?"

So now in "White Hair" the story continues and much is explained.

Then we are back to Hanna in Sarajevo and she feels that the Haggadah has somehow been faked from the negatives of the original...and no one believes her. What must she think? What should she do?.....The suspense builds...I can barely put the book down.

Geraldine Brooks is such a great storyteller. I am really enjoying this saga.

Evelyn

JoanP · « **Reply #289 on:** August 08, 2009, 11:54:32 AM »

Oh, Evelyn, you've answered the question - the black slave was likely Zahra! - She didn't leave Benjamin, the deaf mute son of the doctor - but stayed with him - as his servant? The beautiful illuminated pages Benjamin is selling - are actually Zahra's own paintings! Isn't this a great story, skillfully put together? I'm so glad to be reading it with all of you - I forget so much. Thank you!

JoanP · « **Reply #290 on:** August 08, 2009, 11:57:09 AM »

Babi, I like GB's fiction too - I'll bet the biblical illustration shows her as a servant girl though - and wonder how unusual it was for a Jew to have a black servant, slave or not. Interesting to learn that Arabic texts read from right to left too...Brooks' Muslim, lettered artiste did not seem aware of this...

I looked closer at the page from the haggadah and see the decorative lettering of the paragraph over on the right. I also wanted to look closer at the figures as I reread the passage describing how Zahra painted herself into the illustration -

Quote

" I have set the doctor at the head of the table with Benjamin beside him..."
"I have given myself a gown of saffron, ever my favorite color."
"I have set my head at an attentive angle, and imagine myself listening as the doctor tells of Musa, who defied the king of Mizraim and used his enchanted staff to win his people's freedom from their bondage."

I like Brooks' interpretation of the illustration! The girl is dressed up in her saffron gown with the family, listening attentively to the Biblical passage...I can see that!

ANNIE · « **Reply #291 on:** August 08, 2009, 12:04:36 PM »

This part which is about Iberia is very interesting for me as I have a drop or two of Moorish blood in me, handed down from my Portuguese great grandfather who was born in Lisbon and put on a ship by his parents to come to American in 1854. He was referred to in the Irish family, that he married into in Indiana, as that little black man. Awful, isn't it?? He was a blacksmith and worked on an Armour Beef farm in northern Indiana but eventually moved to Lafayette to marry my Irish(probably Welsh/Scottish) great grandmother, where he was hired to work in the in roundhouse for the LEW(Lake Eris & Western) railroad. His wonderful skin was passed along to my mother and her brothers. I inherited non of that color, only my father's German/Irish light and freckled coloring. Of course, you all know that the Moors also invaded Ireland and some of that dark colored skin remains in that country also.
Sorry to be off topic here but I sometimes do that. Mea culpa! [/b]

straudetwo · « **Reply #292 on:** August 08, 2009, 12:56:36 PM »

After the rape, the girl who would be Zahra was sent by Gooman to the emir 's palace. The emir, Gooman said, was frequently absent and wanted a likeness of the emira to have with him at all times, and that she would "be painting for an audience of one" (p. 293). Al-Mora was ensconced in the nearly deserted palace. The painter and her subject became unusually close. Nura called her "Muna". Nura confided that her birth name was Isabella, that she was educated by nuns and still a Christian at heart.

When Nura became pregnant, the emir had arranged for regular visits by doctor Netanel ha-Levi. The doctor had been given the Book of Hours by the family of a patient who had died, and he kindly gave it to the emira.
"But the doctor ...surely he is Jew?" ventured al-Mora.

"Yes, of course. Netanel ha-Levi is a devout Jew. But he respects all faiths and people of all faiths seek his care. Otherwise how could he work for the emir? I trust him. He is the only one I really can trust. Except for you." (p.309).
Muna made more drawings of Nura and one day the emira put a mirror in front of her and asked Muna to paint herself.

The military situation and the future of the women was uncertain. Nura/Isabella made plans in secret not sharing them with Muna. (She would take refuge with the Sisters until the baby's birth.) When the doctor visited, al-Mora usually withdrew. One day when she was working on a painting of Pedro, Nura/Isabella's brother, the doctor asked her to stay. He admired the painting, said this was not court training, that he saw more in it, less sophistication, more honesty. She then told him of her father and the pride she had taken to illustrate his medical texts, and of his death The doctor said he knew Ibrahim al-Tarek had no peer, and she flushed with pride.
"He was lucky", the doctor said, "to raise a child such as you who could assist him so ably. I have only one child, and he ..."
He did not finish the sentence.

"Then you must take her", said the emira, ya doktur. Al-Moa will be my gift to you for the great care you have bestowed on me ..." Then, as if it were an afterthought, "Ya doktur, I'll send my brother, Pedro, with al-Mora if you will take him. He can serve as her apprentice." And that is what happened. The doctor re-named her Zahra; pp. 310/11.

JoanK · « **Reply #293 on:** August 08, 2009, 01:21:57 PM »

The more you look at this book, the more you see. I'm very impressed with GB's workmanship and attention to detail, as well as her fine, and intricate plotting (she couldn't have carried off the second without the first).

JOANP: the decoration on the right surrounds not a letter, but a phrase. I haven't been able to read it with my rusty Hebrew. Can anyone else?

She does wear a saffron robe in the picture (the colors must have been glowing to have survived as bright as they are). She is shown as smaller, presumably indicating lower status. But she does have something in her hand. I think it is a winecup, not matzoh, if you compare it to the Rabbi's cup. He is drinking (presumably one of the four ritual glasses of wine). She has a wine cup (?) in her hand but no one else does. Perhaps the child and women didn't drink. but then why does she? Maybe she's a man?

Oh, my. I can see one could go on forever about each picture.

JoanK · « **Reply #294 on:** August 08, 2009, 01:40:06 PM »

Another detail I really appreciate is that GB explains why the artist drew the earth as a sphere at a time when the church held that it was flat. (I'll bet scholars have a ball guessing about that).

(p. 314) "I have drawn the earth he created as a sphere My father held it to be so ... (the doctor said) that the calculations of our Muslim astronomers are far more advanced than any others"

For science nerds, here is an interesting article tracing the history ofthe idea of a spherical earth. As always when reading Wikapedia, beware that this has not been checked for accuracy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_earth#Early_development

Apparently, the idea of the earth as round was known to the Greeks (the shadow of the earth on the sun during an eclipse is round) but not firmly accepted. But it was known in the Eastern world many centuries before. Possible question for GB: is the round earth part of the impetus for making the artist Muslem?

PatH · « **Reply #295 on:** August 08, 2009, 01:45:25 PM »

Yes, Evelyn and JoanP, That's what I thought too when I reread that bit. The deaf-mute who sold the pictures to David Ben Shoushan is the son of Netanel Ha-Levi, and his black servant is Zahra, back in her boy's costume. We don't know the details of why they had to flee, but Zahra has responsibly stuck with the son until he is taken in by a family that likes him and will keep him if he sells the pictures to pay his way. Then she leaves: "Slipped off one night not long after we reached the coast at Alicante. Trying to get home to Ifriqiya, no doubt." So we know she got to the coast, but have to imagine whether she got home and what she found there.

EvelynMC · « **Reply #296 on:** August 08, 2009, 03:46:40 PM »

JoanP and PatH, Yes, GB more or less told us what might have happened to Zarah in the last paragraph of "White Hair".

Joan K. - I looked at the picture of the seder again and I thought that the black woman was holding a piece of bread and her hand was covering the stem of the cup which was in front of the woman sitting across from her. Also, the woman sitting to the right of the man is holding a wine cup. I am starting to get cross-eyed staring at that picture.

Doesn't that picture really bring the story alive? All those details incorporated into the story right down to the saffron dress.

so P bubble · « **Reply #297 on:** August 08, 2009, 04:55:48 PM »

Quote from: JoanK on August 08, 2009, 01:21:57 PM

JOANP: the decoration on the right surrounds not a letter, but a phrase. I haven't been able to read it with my rusty Hebrew. Can anyone else?

The decoration on the right serves as a shorten list of the steps in the Hagada reading.

It says 'drink' for the first benediction.
Then it says 'Netila" or washing of the hands
the third word is 'Motzi' or matza, for the benediction on the matza

Usually, for the 'Netila' a female will present a vessel with water and will hold a bowl for the men to wash their hand at the table. I think that is what Zarah is holding.

The woman with a piece of matza in her hand is getting ready for the next step.

BTW the translation of the name Zarah is stranger, alien.

I just got the book this week end and will start reading tonight...

JoanP · « **Reply #298 on:** August 08, 2009, 05:52:38 PM »

Ah Bubble, it is so good to have you join in - Welcome, Welcome , Welcome ! You can read the Hebrew words on the page!
I find it interesting that Zahra means " stranger" - "alien" - as this is the name her father gave her in her homeland - a Moorish name. Do you think Zahra and Zarah are the same in both Hebrew and Moor?

You won't be able to put the book down, once you start. If you are puzzled about some of the history, why don't you just scroll through the comments from the first page as you go - lots of good information you won't find in the book there! Welcome, did I say welcome?

PatH · « **Reply #299 on:** August 08, 2009, 06:20:53 PM »

Bubble, how nice to see you here! You'll find lots of old friends again.

Although Zahra's first two masters don't have anything to do with the Haggadah directly, they are nonetheless important to it. Under Hooman Zahra first learns to paint the likeness of a face. She hones this skill by painting the emira. And it is the emira who shows her the book of hours, which teaches her how to tell a complicated story through pictures.

straudetwo · « **Reply #300 on:** August 08, 2009, 07:36:58 PM »

Bubble, Welcome, dear Friend. How good of you to join us!!

ANNIE · « **Reply #301 on:** August 08, 2009, 08:31:39 PM »

Bubble
Its so good to see you here, on the other side of the pond. Yes, you will meet up with some more of your friends here on SL. Welcome home!
In looking at the illuminations, I thought that Zarhah was coming to the table carrying something?? Wrong again?? Just a guess!

Frybabe · « **Reply #302 on:** August 08, 2009, 08:41:13 PM »

HI, SoP. I'm glad you are here.

JoanK · « **Reply #303 on:** August 08, 2009, 10:03:21 PM »

AH, BUBBLE TO THE RESCUE! I'm so glad you're here!!

You see already how much discussion just one picture can cause! We've already been all over art, poetry, geography, history, and, of course, the seder.

We could discuss this book forever,. Of course we won't, but there is still plenty of time for you to catch up. BUBBLE.

so P bubble · « **Reply #304 on:** August 09, 2009, 04:59:33 AM »

Thanks for the welcome! you are all dear friends.

Adoannie, I would say that Zarah-Zahra is carrying a vessel of water to wash her master's hand for the benediction. It is the first association coming to mind when thinking Hagada and the written passage of the page.

Joan I would think that the name has the same connotation in Arabic and Hebrew. Many words roots are the same.

The Moors in Spain and the Jewish people there lived in harmony for years and I am sure influenced one another. The Jews there also spoke Arabic fluently, not only Spanish, Hebrew and Ladino.

I'll try to help and comment on the posts I read here - until I cach up with the story.

The historical background of Sephardic pogroms, Inquisition, etc is of course well known and part of my personal luggage. Indeed I was told that my ancestors from maternal side (by the family name Castel) fled from Spain at the time of the Inquisition and settled in Gaza, then in Hebron near Jerusalem.

ANNIE · « **Reply #305 on:** August 09, 2009, 09:03:34 AM »

Bubble,
Another question which pertains to the books text: In the chapter about Miti and her father, one reads his teaching of his son, how to form the letters. He tells his son to "remember that the beginning of each letter is square and that the end is round. I have been perusing the different links we have here and checking the printing. Can't find those rounds and square. Anyone else checking on this???

so P bubble · « **Reply #306 on:** August 09, 2009, 09:11:09 AM »

Remember that the quilt or pen used for writing Hebrew is not pointed but has a straight cut edge. So that when you start writing, it maked a "square" or bold straight edge. The end of a stroke, having less pressure on it is thinner and looks rounder or more pointed.

Another detail about Hebrew writing, I don't know if it is mentionned in the book: the letters are written of course on line from right to left. But each letter is formed from left to right in the same shape as the crescent of the moon. So you have to evaluate the width of the letter from the previous one before you start drawing it.

In Latin script, the line as well as the letters start from left to right.

Babi · « **Reply #307 on:** August 09, 2009, 09:35:09 AM »

EVELYN, I see the picture as you do, with the brown object on the table, like the
others pictured, and Zahra holding what looks to me like a wafer or piece of bread.
Definitely now, I would say, a bowl of water.
That is not a woman seated next to the man, however, but his son Benjamin, holding a much smaller wine cup. I have no idea whether the women did or did not
partake of the wine.
BUBBLE, doesn't oriental script also begin firmly and then become lighter and thinner? Perhaps this is typical of all calligraphy and the reason for it's beauty.

so P bubble · « **Reply #308 on:** August 09, 2009, 10:01:44 AM »

I don't know much about Far East scripts but what is right for Hebrew is certainly the same for the Arabic script.

I went to check the Urdu script from Pakistan in my College diary/memory book, and from the look of it I would say it is similar too.

so P bubble · « **Reply #309 on:** August 09, 2009, 10:24:39 AM »

Here you can see the Hebrew alphabet in its print form and in its cursive (handwriting) form.

http://www.jewfaq.org/alephbet.htm

There is also an example of the Ashuri Script used by scholars writing scrolls for the mezuzah or holy writing, and the Rashi script for ceremonial or important documents.

Gumtree · « **Reply #310 on:** August 09, 2009, 10:41:22 AM »

Hello Soapie! Glad you are here. That's a wonderful site on the Hebrew alphabet and scripts - will need to read it at leisure to absorb all it has to offer - thanks.

JoanK · « **Reply #311 on:** August 09, 2009, 03:13:38 PM »

BUBBLE, that's great!

And, of course, we have to remember to read the letters from right to left, so they read alef, beit, ...

straudetwo · « **Reply #312 on:** August 09, 2009, 03:43:07 PM »

Ah, Bubble, thank you for the link with the Hebrew alphabet. It enables us to decipher the passage in the middle of p. 221 in the chapter "Saltwater".
I looked for and found beit. It was a "signal" of great importance for Ruti and Micha in our book.

How is beit pronouced? One syllable or two?
At first glance, I see some similarity with kaf. Perhaps that's due to my no longer 20/20 vision.

so P bubble · « **Reply #313 on:** August 09, 2009, 03:59:54 PM »

Hi Traude. Beit is pronounce as Bet/a without the a at the end. You could also say also like Bêt/e in French.

You are right that the Beit looks like a kaf, bit the lower horizontal is a straight bar that sticks out on the lower right, while the kaf is is like a mirrored C.
The beit is done in two movements: starting top left and doing an arc then you had the lower bar starting on the left toward the right.

That 1st arc is actually the letter R, resh. It is the basis for writing many other letters.

straudetwo · « **Reply #314 on:** August 09, 2009, 04:20:56 PM »

Many thanks for the information, Bubble, and good night to you.

JoanP · « **Reply #315 on:** August 09, 2009, 04:40:29 PM »

I do remember "beit" as the signal from Micha to poor Ruti to come to the barn for another assignation, Traudee. Beit meaning "two, dual; the house, the house of God on earth." It was Micha who proposed the word as a signal for their "union." Micha, a married man, a father of two. Isn't he just using Ruti? Plain homely Ruti - has no chance for love, for marriage.
You know, the more I think of it, none of the women in these episodes had much of a life, did they? No real, positive relationships with men. In "White Hair" we get a double dose of unhappy women... Perhaps the most satisfying scenes in the chapter - in the whole book, were those in which Zahra and Nura came to understand one another.

The first - when Zahra painted the emira, who had just been humiliated beyond words after having been forced to bathe - naked, in front of the nobles in the courtyard. Zahra hesitated, but followed Nura's orders to paint her as she posed straight and tall, unbroken. She was quite satisfied when she saw that Zahra had captured her defiance.

And then the second, perhaps the best moment, when Zahra was ordered by the emir to paint his wife naked and Zahra outright refused. Why do you think Nura was so outraged at this? It was at this moment that the two became close. I think that the best relationships women had during difficult times - were with other women. The tenderest, the most sympathetic, understanding. Do you think this is what GB meant to convey?

JoanK, I've been gathering your questions to send to GBrooks. Does anyone else have a question you would like to send on to the author?

ANNIE · « **Reply #316 on:** August 09, 2009, 06:14:01 PM »

JoanP,
I am just now rereading the White Hair. I didn't remember it from my first reading.

Bubble,
Lets see! While writing in the Judaic text, ones starts on the right and the same is true when one reads it.
Gotcha!
Now, is the one doing the writing supposed to start the letter in a square and end it as a round??? or is that an extra point that GB gave us to ponder?

so P bubble · « **Reply #317 on:** August 10, 2009, 05:12:23 AM »

Yes, you are supposed to start in the square, since the quill is cut that way: to way toi start with a point!

Babi · « **Reply #318 on:** August 10, 2009, 08:43:46 AM »

Was anyone else as incredulous as I was to read that one could paint anything
with a single cat hair? I would have trouble even seeing a single white cat hair! Unless, of course, it was on my brown couch. $:-\$
I realize that something of the sort must be used to paint those awesome
miniatures on tiny objects. I don't think I've ever seen anything on something as small as a grain of rice, though. So naturally, I went hunting.

http://www.ricepainter.com/images/hawaii%20ship.jpg

Frybabe · « **Reply #319 on:** August 10, 2009, 08:55:23 AM »

I have heard of painting on rice and painting micro-miniatures, but I have a hard time believing anyone could do it without the aid of a magnifier of some kind. And cat hair? Isn't that way too soft to control well? I have never before heard of using cat hair to paint.

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Author Topic: People of the Book ~ Geraldine Brooks ~ July 15 ~ Book Club Online (Read 131327 times)