W.H. Hudson's "Green Mansions"

[Nathrad Sheare]

I know the supernatural romance is consistently the crown of the "Bestsellers" stand at Barnes and Noble these days, but has anybody here read the beautiful and somewhat brief novel that outshines even the "Twilight" saga on a bad day, "Green Mansions?" It's the story of the love between Abel, an ambitious young revolutionary who is forced into the jungles of Venezuela by the law, and Rima, an enigmatic girl who boasts the power to ensnare the fears of men and control the elements of her rainforest home. They find one another in a world where a king's rule is maintained by his ability to hunt and to safeguard his tribe from the worst imaginable evils, none of which Abel is prepared for, and some of which Rima has created, herself. In the end, they prove together that ignorance is inevitably the knife to union, but that, in the words of Walter Scott, "Love will still be Lord of all."

This is all just to say the novel is one of my absolute favorites. It's an amazing story by an amazing writer. If you haven't read it yet, you HAVE to! I haven't read a love story of the mainstream that sustains the intensity this novel does. And the description! You have to read this:

"Here Nature is unapproachable with her green, airy canopy, a sun-impregnated cloud--cloud above cloud; and though the highest may be unreached by the eye, the beams yet filter through, illuming the wide spaces beneath--chamber succeeded by chamber, each with its own special lights and shadows. "

Awesome... Had to write about it!

[suzy1124]

One of my all time faves..........I must re-read it...I wrote about it on here.........

[Nathrad Sheare]

Wow, really? It's one of my all time favorites, too. I didn't know you'd written about it... whoops... Am I going to get in trouble with the moderators?

One of my favorite parts is the one in which Abel tries to explain to Rima that there's so much more to the world than the little section of it she's been living in. I don't know why I like that scene so much... And I like their meeting, too.

[suzy1124]

Have you seen the movie w/Audrey Hepburn and Tony Perkins?...I've observed that often both of us share the same taste.......

I found my old post by typing in "Green Mansions " in the search bar...it was in the context of books that enticed one into reading, thereby developing a lifelong habit into adulthood......

The other book was " The Good Earth " by Pearl S. Buck, that I read in H.S...

Time for me to re-read Green Mansions again...

[Nathrad Sheare]

We certainly do. Unfortunately, I haven't seen the movie, but the soundtrack is on my must-have list, Renee Fleming as soprano soloist. I haven't read the book by Pearl S. Buck... I definitely will give it a try. It's hard to find the Hepburn movie... I've looked for it several times... I want to see as many classics as I can in my lifetime. Not infrequently do I find a classic that I'd prefer to any movie of now to watch over and over again. My favorite old movies are more numerous than my favorite new movies, for sure.

-- 19 Jul 2014, 21:47 --

Wow, was that really botchy and randomized, or what?