The Merchant Of Venice Book

Feb 4, 840pm ~~ Review asap.

Feb 5, 1140pm ~~ "You know, Vandersee, I have always looked upon you as a sort of Admirable Crichton among sailors."

Sounded like an insult to me. But who or what is an Admirable Crichton? Color me clueless. So when I saw this remark in the book Gold Out of Celebes, I Googled the phrase to see what exactly our man had in mind when he said it.

I discovered that Admirable Crichton was a play written by J. M. Barrie of Peter Pan fame. I wondered if Project Gutenberg might have the play at their website, and they did, so I read it and here we are.

Now I can tell you that Crichton was the butler at the house of Lord Loam. Crichton was a most admirable butler. He was very proud of his career and his place in the world. He firmly believed in the separation of the classes, in not getting above his station in life, and all that sort of thing. But somewhere in his heart of hearts, did he feel superior to his superiors? Did he believe that he was the only one who knew how to do anything? The only one with practical knowledge and problem solving abilities? A dictator in disguise, perhaps?

Well, yes, I think he did feel that way. Because when the family takes a trip by yacht and ends up shipwrecked, the Admirable Crichton is the one who takes charge. Naturally. He was a great one for Nature sorting things out. Which it did on the island. For two years! But what will happen when or if they are rescued?

This was a hilarious play to read, and I think would be great fun to see performed. I found a movie version of it at YouTube and have added it to my Someday List of Things To Watch. (Come on, now. You didn't really think I only had a Someday List for books, did you? lol)

I was a little disappointed in the ending, as many people seemed to be if I remember my Wiki information correctly. Even Barrie said that he had at first written the play with a different ending, but decided that Society wasn't ready for that scenario at the time. After all, back then everyone knew their place, right?

Boy, am I ever glad those days are over. At least they should be, that is. Sometimes it doesn't seem that way, though does it.