From Brother Cadfael, as I love re-reading those medieval mysteries:
"Never go looking for disaster. Expect the best, and walk so discreetly as to invite it, and then leave all to God."*
- Ellis Peters, The Virgin in the Ice
*emphasis mine
that is lovely. and such wonderful books!
ReplyDeleteI love those books, too and The Virgin in the Ice is one of the best of the series. Some years ago the BBC did radio dramatizations of some of the books with Philip Madoc as Brother Cadfael. So much better than the TV adaptation!
ReplyDeleteThe Virgin in the Ice is wonderful because - spoiler alert! - Cadfael finds out he has a son, and such a fine fellow. I remember being so happy for him, and glad I'd been reading them in order. Listening to an audiobook can be so different from reading the book yourself, but it takes so long, and I can't seem to fit it in; there are very few I've listened to that way. I enjoy podcasts, but each one is separate.
DeleteI quite understand that. I don't often listen to audio books or even podcasts - I much prefer reading a book to listening to one read to me. The only times I do are when I'm doing lots of mending or ironing and they help to keep me sane!
ReplyDeleteThe BBC dramas were extremely good and were serialised (and Philip Madoc had the most gorgeous Welsh voice!) I have my own copy of Virgin in the Ice and Dead Man's Ransom.
I was so happy for Cadfael too and then years later so sad when Edith Pargeter died and I knew there'd be no more Cadfael.
Yes, but I remember having the thought, when Brother Cadfael's Penance came out, that it was the 20th, and that might be significant. The story was so dramatic, the way he - spoiler alert! - left the monastery without permission. It seemed that she left him in a good place and at a good time, if it had to be the last one.
DeleteI remember very well that I was sick when I brought the book home from the library, and was able to devote myself entirely to it, that medieval world and his travels to rescue Olivier. And when he came back to the familiar enclosure, the way she described it, " ...he had the length of the enclave wall to tell over pace by pace like beads, in gratitude, from the corner of the horse-fair to the gates, with the beloved bulk of the church like a warmth in the winter night on his left hand within the pale, a benediction all the way."
That was so moving to me, "like beads". And, of course, when Abbot Radulfus took him back. She couldn't have improved on that story, I don't think. (can you tell I own it? I don't have it memorized!)
You own it. She was a wonderful writer and the books and her words are treasures.
DeleteGood advice! And the spoiler comment -- how wonderful for Brother Cadfael!!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I always loved his great humanity; his love for his fellow man.
Delete