Even though this has always been a personal blog, I have carefully avoided in making this, well, too personal....and a lot of it went into making sure that I don't put up any rants whatsoever...but in retrospect, screw that...

it's 12:40 am...my back is killing me but my mind refuses to go to sleep...(sorry spine, you just have to buck it up)...it's true what they say that if you don't expect, you won't get disappointed....easier said than done...i guess i just assumed i meant a little more...they say that when you assume, you just make an ass of U and me...more of me in this case....oh well, those tears cried are lessons learned...crystallizing everything in its proper place, correct perspective...message received, loud and clear

times like this, i just want to shrug it all off and walk away...don't worry, i can feel the blood already coagulating...what doesn't kill you just makes you stronger

speaking in riddles...so what...get your own blog

"We carry the dead with us only until we die too"

"Thus in the minds of the many does the one ramify and disperse. It does not last, it cannot, it is not immortality. We carry the dead with us only until we die too, and then it is we who are borne along for a little while, and then our bearers in their turn drop, and so on into the unimaginable generations...True, there will be something of us that will remain, a fading photograph, a lock of hair, a few fingerprints, a sprinkling of atoms in the air of the room where we breathed our last, yet none of this will be us, what we are and were, but only the dust of the dead."

 Winner of the Man Booker Prize and John Banville's 18th novel, The Sea is told in Max Morden's viewpoint.  Reeling from his wife's death, Max retreats to a cottage by the sea where he used to spend his summers.  It is there that we are taken in a journey through his recollections of his childhood summers with the Graces and the time before his wife's death.  The novel was poignant and honest and all praises for this book are well-deserved.

To love life for what it is....

A mark of a truly great book is when it makes you realize something about yourself and/or the world you live in.  The Hours by Michael Cunningham gave me something extraordinary.  It gave me a sense of normalcy.

"We live our lives, do whatever we do, and then we sleep. It's as simple and ordinary as that. A few jump out windows, or drown themselves, or take pills; more die by accident; and most of us are slowly devoured by some disease, or, if we're very fortunate, by time itself. There's just this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds & expectations, to burst open & give us everything we've ever imagined, though everyone but children (and perhaps even they) know these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. Still, we cherish the city, the morning, we hope, more than anything for more. Heaven only knows why we love it so."
-Laura

The book is simply beautiful. The re-imagining of Virginia's life and its relation to Laura and Clarissa was exquisite

"To look life in the face. Always to look life in the face. And to know it for what it is. At last to know it is. To love it for what it is. And then to put it away. Leonard always the years between us, always the years. Always the love. Always the hours."
-Virginia

A Spark of Inspiration

There are times in your life that you suddenly stop and wonder what the hell it is you are doing with your life.  I don't think I could say it any better than Ayn Rand:

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle.
The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."

-Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)

"A Statue of Atlas at the Rockefeller Plaza"

Twenty-one: Tess of 'd Ubervilles

Interesting Factoid?

The book was made into a movie by Roman Polanski.  He decided to make this into a movie because he was given a copy of the novel by his late wife the last time he saw her.

Impressions?

The whole time I was reading it, the only thing I can think about is how tragic the story is.  It tells of the loss of innocence, the loss of love and faith.  Tess is a compelling character and you can’t help but be haunted by her plight.

Most Memorable?

"Thus, the thing began. Had she perceived this meeting's import she might have asked why she was doomed to be seen and coveted that day by the wrong man, and not by some other man, the right and desired one in all respects..."

"You, and those like you, take your fill of pleasure on earth by making the life of such as me bitter and black with sorrow; and then it is a fine thing, when you have had enough of that, to think of securing your pleasure in heaven by becoming converted!"

Twenty-one: Sense and Sensibility

Interesting Factoid?

This is the first novel of Jane Austen and underwent several revisions before finally being published in 1811.  The first draft was finished in 1795 when Jane was only 19.

Impressions?

My first Jane Austen (I’m not proud).  This is the only book in this list with a happy ending.  Compared to the other books, this is actually light reading.  When I say light reading, I am in no way pertaining to the content but to the effect it has on me as a reader.  It was actually a welcome change from all the “heavy” reading I have been doing so far.

Most Memorable Lines?

“There is something so amiable in the prejudices of a young mind, that one is sorry to see them give way to the reception of more general opinions.”

“Elinor had not needed ... to be assured of the injustice to which her sister was often led in her opinion of others, by the irritable refinement of her own mind, and the too great importance placed by her on the delicacies of a strong sensibility and the graces of a polished manner. Like half the rest of the world, if more than half there be that are clever and good, Marianne, with excellent abilities and an excellent disposition, was neither reasonable nor candid. She expected from other people the same opinions and feelings as her own, and she judged of their motives by the immediate effect of their actions on herself.”

Twenty-one: The Age of Innocence

Interesting Factoid?

The Age of Innocence – Although the book also serves as a sort of commentary on the high society with its its use of irony and other literary tools, Edith Wharton considers this novel as an “apology” for how brutal her other book (The House of Mirth) was.

Impressions?

I loved this book.  I loved the way Edith Wharton played with language and the barely veiled contempt for high society.  I can’t wait to read The House of Mirth

Most Memorable Lines?

“In reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs…”

“It would presently be his task to take the bandage from this young woman's eyes, and bid her look forth on the world. But how many generations of the women who had gone to her making had descended bandaged to the family vault?”