Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Inkling Explorations Link-Up // August 2015 & New Must-See Buttons!!!

As this is our fourth Inklings month I decided it’s high time to mix in some new buttons!





How do you all like them? :) Feel free to use anyor all five!

And our topic for this month is: A scene happening on/at/around a train or train station 


July specific notes: Selections can be from either books or films


And you can probably all guess my choice.... ;) Yes, indeed—the ending scene in the '04 North and South! (And a couple notes: while I love both versions of N&S, the following specifically applies to the BBC '04 adaptation with Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe. Also, I’m actually lifting this post almost entirely from my review which you can read in full here.)

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And now for our North and South scene in which the themes of the entire wonderful story are captured to brilliant perfection. 


First, the train appears throughout—beginning and ending the film, tying it completely and richly together with its portrayal of continuation and change—and while the ending scene (with its kissing at a public place) may or may not be historically accurate, from a story perspective it’s dazzling. 


In the beginning, while hoping to remain settled, Margaret finds herself uprooted to a new and completely foreign world. And with that catalyst (even as she tries to remain fixed within herself) the ground is pulled from beneath her by the inescapable rushing forward of life. Everything she had deemed simple and immovable—her world, her entire family, even her own mind, opinions, and (at last) emotions—are caught in that great unstoppable impetus. 


From the beginning there’s a ripeness and maturity about her. Yet with that softness there’s also an inflexibility—a resistant immobility—dyed into her very character and desire for a solidity of place, for the clearly delineated safety found in habitual routine and a clearly defined social world. There’s safety in stagnation... while change can involve both danger and heartache. 


But real change generally comes unasked and unlooked for. 


Margaret learns she cannot box herself and she cannot box others in closely defined categories. Yet one of the greatest things I love about the story is that—changing—she doesn’t lose who she is. Lovely and gracious, she’s still Margaret, but—growing in humility—she learns also an active, diligent rest. 


So comes the train station at the end. The station—that stopping place in the forward push of life and progress—that place with the dizzying potential for a full face, 180-degree turn. The stopping place encapsulating those few, tangible, epic—fully historic—moments in life that completely reorient us, changing everything. Yet again. 


And arriving at such a stopping place Margaret reaches forward to the future—finding tried and tested strength to lean onfinding again a field of rich fulfillment and labor.

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As always, entries are open through the end of the month and I can’t wait to see your selections! Remember, you can write as little or as much as you like. And don’t forget to check out and share one of the new buttons!

Naomi @ Wonderland Creek
Inkling Explorations in Gone With the Wind @ a room of one's own
Hamlette @ The Edge of the Precipice
Rose @ An Old Fashioned Girl
Natalie @ Raindrops on Roses & Whiskers on Kittens

*Rules*


1. Post the Inklings button on your sidebar.
2. Do a post on your own blog relating to the month's selection/subject (a literary excerpt as short or as long as you like AND/OR—if specified that month—a screencap from a film with an explanation of how the scene builds/develops the story). Link back here somewhere in your post.
3. Come back here and paste your link in the comments box and I'll add it to the post. Then enjoy visiting and reading everyone else's contributions!

That's all there is to it!

Up next month: A Funny Story Opening in Literature


21 comments:

  1. OH! Lovely buttons, Heidi! :-)

    And the theme is RAILWAY SCENES!!!! I KNOW which one I have in mind. :-) I have two great ones in mind, actually, but I'll have to choose one. :-)

    ~ Naomi

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    1. Naomi,
      Thank you and I'm so happy you love them!! :) They were a lot of fun to put together.

      And I think I know what one of your possibilities might be.... Might it be from a war movie you've seen recently?? ;) I can't wait to see how you make up your mind! ;)

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  2. I love your new buttons--especially the one with the girl wearing the red skirt. It's pretty :)

    Such a lovely summary of the ending scene in North and South! I seriously need to watch that movie (and read the book :) ) Maybe when my laptop gets fixed--right now I can't watch anything and it's Terrible and Sad, as Pooh would say.

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    1. jessica,
      I'm so glad you like them! (Isn't her outfit just too delicious?)

      And thank you so much for your kind words. Yes, indeed!! You MUST see (and read it!) asap. ;D I'll be looking forward to your thoughts! :)

      Oh, dear..... that is Terrible and Sad. Computers can be such trouble at times. :-/ *sigh* I hope you're able to get yours fixed before long!

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  3. My mom and I literally just finished watching North and South (it's probably like our 8th time doing so-it's one of our absolute favorites) and so it was perfect to read your post on that last scene! Isn't North and South just wonderful???
    I do HOPE to join in on this...I have yet to figure out a scene to use, but I'm sure I'll find one. ;)

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    1. Natalie,
      Yay! I'm so glad it's one of your absolute favorites, too!! And yes, indeedy. It's absolutely splendiferous. :D I think Ever After may now have pushed it to being my third favorite movie (I'm still kind of reeling in shock about that :P), but then I haven't seen N&S since seeing Ever After -- so I'm trying not to put my top three favorites in competition. They're just all so delightfully jumbled up and so much a part of me! ;D

      Oh, good -- I hope you can as I'm so looking forward to seeing what you might come up with! (And the button you chose on your sidebar.... It looks so pretty! Thank you!! ;))

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    2. Heidi,
      Ooh! I've heard of Ever After before. I never tried it, though, because it sounded like it had a little "content". Maybe you could do a review of it sometime? (if you want to, that is!)

      I loved your line "They're just all so delightfully jumbled up and so much a part of me!" That is the EXACT way to describe all my favorite stories. It's just perfect!

      Oh, yes! I forgot to say how pretty all your buttons were! I liked each of them so much, but the one I chose just seemed to "fit" me. :)

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    3. Natalie,
      Well..... Ever After does have a little 'content', so thank you for the suggestion! I was hoping to do a review eventually, but (mostly inspired by your comment! ;)) I decided to bump it up and actually started drafting a review this morning! Yay!! And.... I'm feeling singularly inspired, so maaaaybe sometime in the next week? ;D

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    4. Heidi,
      Oh, good! I'm so excited to read your review now!
      And, I just submitted my link for this month! Yay! :) It was a great subject. You should maybe use it again sometime!

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  4. Well, dadburn it, I just did three giant posts about a delicious movie involving a train, 3:10 to Yuma. Now I'll have to think of a different movie or book to talk about!

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    1. Hamlette,
      Oh, dear.... yes, that does present a problem! :P I guess I didn't time that one quite right, did I? I hope you can come up with something all right! I've actually thought of a number of different scenes now (mostly in films) so maybe we'll have to do this topic again in a while. Hmmm. There's always Return to Cranford..... :)

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    2. Totally fine! I know what I'm going to post about, and hope to get it written up later today :-) Though Return to Cranford is an awesome choice, I've only seen it once and don't think I'm quite ready to talk at length about it.

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    3. I have to leave a quick note that I'm actually quite happy you didn't choose RtC, Hamlette! I hadn't thought of that as a subject until I saw Heidi's comment. Then I waited to see whether you would do it or not. :) Now, unless I think of a scene I like better, I think I might use the RTC scene for this month. :D
      Thanks, haha!

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    4. Natalie, that's so funny! Nope, I didn't use it, so feel free to :-) I look forward to many yummy screencaps of Tom Hiddleston... er, I mean, to many yummy discussions of that series and the role trains play in it!!!

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    5. Thanks, Hamlette! I was hoping to use a book scene but we'll see. I do love RTC so much, so obviously the choice is tugging at me for those reasons.
      Haha! Yes, Tom Hiddleston. :) heehee. I'll try to talk about trains as well. ;)

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  5. What a lovely entry. I love your dissection of Margaret's character. I've seen this film a couple times, & really need to finish the novel. :)

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    1. Jillian,
      Thank you! Yes, indeed, the book is absolutely wonderful.... one of my top favorites. :) And I'm looking forward to hopping over and reading your post on one of your favorites ASAP! ;)

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  6. Okay! My entry is up, and in the linky thingy :-)

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    1. Hamlette,
      Yay! Heading over to leave a comment soon.... :)

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  7. What a wonderful theme this month. And such a nice entry on the ending scene of North & South - that was also one of the first scenes I thought of when I read the theme.

    I finally got my own entry up.

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    1. Rose,
      I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It's so fun we thought of the same scene.... And I'm looking forward to reading your post! :)

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