Haikus (October 21-26, 2018) written while reading W.H. Hudson's Green Mansions:

Sunday, October 21, 2018, 11:00 pm-12:25 am Mountain View: Read 51 pages of W.H. Hudson's "Green Mansions" (1904), (FictionHudsonW) for Stanford Another Look book discussion on 10/30 Abel flees to Venezuelan jungle, lives among native people, and hears strange bird-like singing.	Monday, October 22, 2018, 11:15 pm-12:32 am Mountain View: Read pages 52-101 of Hudson's "Green Mansions" (1904), (FictionHudsonW) for Stanford Another Look book discussion on 10/30 Abel meets Rima in the jungle, gets bitten by a coral snake and healed by her grandfather in hut.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018, 10:17 pm-12:35 am Mountain View: Read pages 102-164 of Hudson's "Green Mansions" (1904), (FictionHudsonW) for Stanford Another Look book discussion on 10/30; In love with Rima (p. 130); She's like birds (p. 136): O mystic bell-bird of heavenly race of the awallow and dove, the quetzal and the nightingale!	Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 10:40 pm-12:20 am Mountain View: Read pages 165-219 of Hudson's "Green Mansions" (1904), (FictionHudsonW) for Stanford Another Look book discussion on 10/30: (Jane Fonda's favorite book, which she read at 13) Page 199— "Rima has been given this quickness of mind and power to divine distant things."
Thursday, October 25, 2018, 11:05 pm-12:25 am Mountain View: Read pages 220-274 of Hudson's "Green Mansions" (1904), (FictionHudsonW) for Stanford Another Look book discussion on 10/30: Page 270— "Rima climbed atop a big tree but Runi's tribe set the tree aflame on fire, and she fell like a bird into the flames."	Friday, October 26, 2018, 10:35 pm-12:24 am Mountain View: Finished reading book, pp. 275-315 of Hudson's "Green Mansions", (FictionHudsonW) for Stanford Another Look book discussion on 10/30 Page 310— Carried Rima's ashes, talisman to save me; her mystic grace, loveliness & joy vanished, caused me pain.

Notes for Another Look Book Discussion (October 30, 2018): Green Mansions (1904) by W. H. Hudson Robert Pogue Harrison Charles Junkerman Laura Wittman Questions & Answers with Audience: RPH: Theme of book: extinction of Rima's race, her desperate search for her kind. Can't converse with Abel in her language, so it's difficult for them to communicate. Deep pathos— this once and once only. We experience extinction when losing our mother. Abel learns to forgive himself and his sins at the end. Audience (Connie): Motif of the moth approaching the flame. I didn't know that Virginia Woolf liked W.H. Hudson's writings. She had an essay "The Death of the Moth" [1925] watching a moth, emblem of vitality, dying at the window sill. Rima was emblem of vitality. She wouldn't allow Abel to look into her eyes. The beloved is discovered in the eyes. LW: I see that vitality in Rima, her changing skin colors. A scientist dissecting cadavers, commissioned paintings on the changing color of the flesh. His research was a mixture of science and spirit, trying to discover the mystery of death. RPH: Charles Junkerman told me his initial disappointment reading Green Mansions. He claimed that Hudson's description of nature was kind of generic. CJ: What disappointed me was Hudson never went to Venezuela or jungles in Guyana. His descriptions of birds are not as acute as Gerald Manley Hopkins' "Windhover" [1877]. Greem Mansions's subtitle is "A Romance of the Tropical Forest". However, it doesn't compare with [H. Rider Haggard's] King Solomon's Mine [1885] or [Robert Louis Stevenson's] Treasure Island [1883]. These romantic novels have a protagonist getting to a goal of treasures, some male bonding, and strange geographical settings. Hudson's Abel gets to the jungle, sees gold necklaces worn by tribal people, and went searching for gold to no avail. But he finds Rima instead, who is more precious than gold. In Shakespeare's Tempest [1611], Ferdinand flees to an island and comes to the virginal maiden [Miranda]. Hudson didn't like people very much. LW He seems to be critical of all civilizations. Humans are violent whereas animals are not so much. CJ: Curupitá is the only animal that's violent [p. 45 "unspeakable monster rushing on to slay & devour me", p. 310 "frightful half brute and half devil"]. RPH: Abel is part of human species. He talks about hunger, eat snakes. Nuflo ate his meat in concealment away from his hut. Rima eats no flesh. She's a guardian of the forest and let animals and birds flourish. Rima's murder is not only extinction of her race, it also opens up the forest for everyone who feared entering it when she was alive. Abel's guilt is not protecting Rima. He used one tribe against the other {Manga versus Runi]. LW: Hudson's novel is a reflection of the microcosm to macrocosm. The extinction of Rima's race and burning down trees in the forest may be seen now on a global level. RPH: Extinction of indigenous people has been going on. Audience: I have reservations on the love between Abel and Rima. She is a beautiful creature, lost her mother, wants to go back to her tribe. There is an age discreption between them. Abel stole kisses from Rima when she fell asleep on his lap. His passion for her is stronger. She's not passionate in love with him. CJ: Their age difference is not that great. Abel was 23 when he met her. Rima was 17 years old at the time. She seems to get younger like a 12-year old, while he's growing older. Seems like Rima resembles Lolita. LW: In this novel, the older self is talking about his younger self. He projects all these things and desires on her. He is more subtle, projecting eternity on her. After she leaves him, she becomes an individual and independent. Audience: There is idealism in the book, like a Tarzan fantasy story. Just read about chakras having color. Going from the base level to the crown chakra level symbolizes spiritual transformation. Abel knows the experience in the jungle. Rima taught him purity. LW: At the beginning of the novel, he's talking about landscape. Rima is a creature of the air. I've not map out transformation of color. Audience: Why is the book's title "Mansion"? I understand the "Green" part relating to forest. CJ: Hudson calls it the forest not the jungle. House that is open. Audience: There is a Wall Street Journal article ["The Secluded Island Hideaways for America's Rich and Famous" August 23, 2018] where Paulson talks about his "Green Mansions". ["she & her husband, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, own a large swath of that land. In 2015, they paid almost $33 million to buy Little St. Simons Island, a roughly 11,000-acre barrier island accessible only by boat... "It's not a mansion, but the island is our 'Green Mansion'." says Ms. Paulson, referencing William Henry Hudson's book about a traveler visiting the tropical forests of Venezuela. "It's more about the live oaks, the Spanish moss, the solitude. And the opportunity to experience a relatively pristine ecosystem in this country."] RPH: I disagree that Abel had transformation to be more spiritual. He went back to live in Georgetown. He had friendship not mystic love. He doesn't have higher wisdom. Returned to the ordinary day-to-day living. There's nothing to compensate for the loss of Rima that's most dear to him. Friendship would be lost if Abel didn't tell his story. Audience: The white men don't share their food, whereas Indians share their food. will not rescue books. RPH: God doesn't respond, so he goes out to kill Runi. Why only human beings respond to call? Rima calls "Abel! Abel!" when dying, but he's not there to respond. Going into the forest is like Dante entering Inferno with Virgil as his only guide. CJ: I read Hudson's biography and learned that he can whistle 180 different Argentine birds. Audience: Rima is teasing Abel with her warbling music. He is listening to the sound and can't find the bird. There's a sexual component when he discovers it's a girl. Robert Harrison: Our next Another Look book discussion will be about Queen's Gambit (1983) by Walter Tevis.

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