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Notes to Edna OBriens The Country Girlsa brilliant jewel in literature

jwr47

The Country Girls1 is a splendid psychological study in a wonderful fascinating English which

greatly expanded my vocabulary and imagination No other boo provided me with more newwords than this novel The boo reminds me of The Catcher in the ye in its style and wordings

and $ lied the experience of reliving some of these teenagers episodes in an $rish town

ome of the details remembered me of my time in the boarding school 1amp()1amp which must have

been the episode of the novels story $n fact $ never did read a novel which precisely hit the

atmospheric density to allow me to feel reset to my youth at that school

Edna +rien invited me to en-oy the same smells $ found in the cold wardrobe full of wet clothes

the darness of the gloomy schools corridors at night the chal at the green blacboards the

weely showers at aturdays the discipline indoctrinated by the prefect and his constables $

remember the music we heard the sounds at the dormitory and the silly punishments which might

have been woring to discipline a dogaba was put standing for three hours in the chapel because ister argaret overheard her

saying the 0oly Name 2or a similar futility $ had been put standing at the radiator in front

of the directors doorstep

Education in the most catholic boarding school of the Netherlands may have been the reason for

correlating my episodes with the country girls experiences 3aily attending ass early in the

morning had been our fate as well4 $n the chapel $ remember a white marble holy water font and an

upstairs gallery in the chapel as well where the invisible nuns followed ass ome of us said they

had observed the nuns in a pillow fight but we all thought these were rumors

$ recogni5ed abas teasing and provoing as the cruelty between friends which obviously had to

be developed to grow up from childhood to puberty and adults +f course some of the years we hada retreat with lectures and prayers 6e also had a lecture on boys girls sex and things 7 8ll the

lonesome sounds of $reland and the Netherlands seemed to have been similar 917

ltes Caithleens story filled my mind for a couple of days up to the reincarnation level $ now its

silly but if there is a criterion for good literature it should be defined according to the degree of

incarnating into the protagonisteading the boo $ felt lie reliving my boardings school years way

bac in that red bric building= which had been torn down long ago

$ studied Edna +riens biography and understood her case after being raised in gta strict religious

family and an education at the National chool in carriff the Convent of the isters of ercy in

oughrea 91amp717 and the Aharmaceutical College in 3ublin Certainly she also reused some of

her own memories for her novel The reincarnation thought of a novels reader seemed to wor best

if for a reader and protagonist which had been placed in the same or a similar situation

$ suggested the idea of writing a sort of parallel lives the way Alutarch described the correlations

between Grees and omans aybe the idea needs some time to ripen

1 The Country Girls $N ()17)((1B=1)7

Aage Bamp4 Aage B(

7 page 111= 3iary 2ragments 1amp()1amp 93utch

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Fast

$ also detected a logical error in the novel

8t page 4 the novel claims artha was what the villagers called fast The meaning of

fast however is explained years later by aba to an innocent and unnowing protagonist

ate at page B 8 fast woman is a woman who has a baby Duicer than another woman9B

Remarks

bull brussels sprouts has been spelled with lower case letter b 9 9

bull 8 fast woman is a woman who has a baby Duicer than another woman 9B

bull ooms which never had been used 91=1

bull No -uice F no use 91=

bull all the lonesome sounds of $reland 917

Rich vocabulary

8 very rich vocabulary seems may enrich the readers vocabulary $ listed the words in the chapters

which had been uncommon to me before reading The Country Girls $ checed some of these

words in a dictionary and learned a lot to enrich and improve my English Thesaurus

1 dainty 91( purty 9 pretty 911 The erry +rder 9) two heads on one pillow flag 9

stone 911 41 steam chit fudge ee-it 9F idiot 91 1 ragwort 914 lac)and)Tan

lac and Tans 914 B forbear briar 914

indubitably 91= paddoc 91 Heyes 2luid 9( soppy

4 dunce 9 cardigan mope 911 scullery nudge 94 ciderette 9 Cider fray fec 9= musty 9 forge to fuss 9 fussing birds -igs I reels 9 The music of $reland Higs

and reels dribble 9B bantams 9amp daft 94( wellingtons what)not 9Jaltar $nfant of

Arague 9 $nfant Hesus of Arague erb covet sallow ewer 94 garish toff 94=

7 pansy 94 mantelshelf altcellar fast 94 B chiffon trifle reprove snigger get out of

this dive 94B blachead 8ga cooer 94amp sodden cutlery doyley gallivant plait 971 pod

bra5en bathe

= cissiyishB 974 eiderdowns midge 977 alsatian 9dog haughty seDuin puce uncouth 97=

elderberry frilly smiring antimacassar 97amp aul song thud 9=

astute 9== rasher -acdaws scarecrow yahoo bawneen mott wheelbarrow poultice

mooning9=

B banister91 lo5enge9 ltorshire relish97 mopey varicose9 alotted 9allot sDuint

stoop munch9amp

amp limp9B( dandruff froc haunch sly frecle mortification gaol slug9B= tapioca suc a

boil dole fast hicish

1( crochet9Bamp chilblains divide it over 9amp1 barm)brac stingy tangerine dun 9amp7 calve

ree nutmeg coy maudlin 9amp

The lins refer to the English or German eDuivalents of the words Numbers in bracets refer to the chapters of the

Aenguin edition 8 fast woman is a woman who has a baby Duicer than another woman 9B

B Sissy Ks9is)syK as a girls name 3iminutive form of Cecilia 9atin gt blind onegt 8lso a common nicname for asister ead more at httpLLwwwthinbabynamescomLmeaningL(LissyMBCx-3Du72bug1ampamp

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11 plump9ampB obliDuely bonnet moron peevish trinet turey maret91(1 holly shred

tinsel colleen grate cliner tae a fit form colander becon 91(4 raspberry cordial

smell of must fiver 9= pound bills 91(= hydrangea palsy pleat ointment

1 maidenhair fern 9111 nut)house9117 bee)line loathsome wainscoting palpitate crippled

with corns91(

14 -ubilee nurse 911 till perusal pinafore vexed beef tea914 craw)thumper91 giddy bra5en gawy russet 9141

17 peal 914 oblong sallow raish macintosh tassel ravenous loganberry sivvy

hopscotch picy beds gas thimble 914 drip coop scald ceilidh spiretrudge mohaw

chenille

1= coddle917 scoop slin slane bulrush plush curlew ileann pipe illy Tuohey suet

wither languid slee hag clove currant pecish wicer

1 thrift91=1 sumptuous simnel No -uice F no use nudge one or other crevice lichen

slop wanton ply

1 chandelier91=B huff coo furry suly demurely starch1B fidgety mop cap paisley pallor shop bun giddy bulrush curlew

1amp shir 91B blanch hicish beseech cocoa

( pelt 91B7 blotchy