I LOVED this book - it was a book I got from Amazon Prime and it was really entertaining. I could not put it down. What made it even more interesting is that the novel is based around technology which is becoming an increasingly large center-point of our everyday lives.
Page 128: "You ever notice how the people who most need to see or read something are the most oblivious or resentful of its existence?"
Page 206: "Guilt, he thought, must be the most useless human emotion. Fear alerted one to danger and therefore saved lives. Love altered one to living and therefore improved lives. But guilt - guilt was so uselessly after-the-fact, so absent as a tool of prevention and yet so powerful as a tool of misery. Guilt rotted men in cells and suburbs and churches. Guilt destroyed lives."
Page 261: "My understanding of what ti means to be average has nothing to do with statistics. The average American is truly average only in the ways he falls short of his own potential, particularly when he is motivated by the expectations of others. There is always someone more to the right or left of you, someone more or less attractive than you, someone richer or poorer, someone who claims to know how you should live your life better than you know it. People are average when they are driven by a motivation to fit in. The American challenge, then, is to be oneself- only, exactly, and totally."
Page 262: "Our failure is that we actively resist people who fall outside the status quo and especially those who reach beyond it on purpose. An average American is one who cannot overcome his instinct to view the honest aspirations of others with suspicion."
Page 354: "Manipulating emotions is the most important function of meaningful art. We cannot grown unless we invest our emotions in an idea. Without emotion, nothing takes hold."
Sunday, September 6, 2015
The Kite Runner by: Khaled Hosseini
This book is so good and emotional. I highly recommend reading it. It brought me all types of feels. In fact, I was so into this book that I did not even take the time to highlight anything. There were some great things in this book; however, so read it and remember to highlight and share.
The Joy Luck Club by: Amy Tan
I do remember this book, and after I read the book I watched the movie. Also, I learned that my grandmother who had passed read this book and I found that interesting. Reading was a way to connect us and for me to relate to her even though she is no longer here. It especially seemed appropriate for this book which regards family and generations.
I liked this book - my only complaint is I wanted more. We were given many different stories all connected together and I just wish I knew the endings of the stories; however, I do feel that fragmented feeling was supposed to be there.
Page 15: "She will know my meaning, because I will give her this swan- a creature that becomes more than what was hoped for."
Page 15: "And then she had to fill out so many forms she forgot why she had come and what she had left behind."
Page 22: "We all had the same stink, but everybody complained someone else smelled the worst."
Page 22: "Can you imagine how it is, to want to be neither inside nor outside, to want to be nowhere and disappear?"
Page 24: "But to despair was to wish back fro something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable."
Page 72: "A boy can run and chase dragonflies, because that is his nature," she said. "But a girl should stand still. If you are still for a very long time, a dragonfly will no longer see you. Then it will come to you and hide in the comfort of your shade."
Page 165: "Fallen down," she says simply. She doesn't apologize. "It doesn't matter, " I say, and I start to pick up the broken glass shards. "I knew it would happen." "Then why you don't stop it?" asks my mother. And it's such a simple question.
Page 191: "It was only later that I discovered there was a serious flaw with the American version. There were too many choices, so it was day to get confused and pick the wrong thing."
Page 217: "'Now you see,' said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, 'why it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else's joy."
This is a good book to read to get a point of view of what it is like from the other side - a younger generation looking at an older generations' perspective and vice versa.
I liked this book - my only complaint is I wanted more. We were given many different stories all connected together and I just wish I knew the endings of the stories; however, I do feel that fragmented feeling was supposed to be there.
Page 15: "She will know my meaning, because I will give her this swan- a creature that becomes more than what was hoped for."
Page 15: "And then she had to fill out so many forms she forgot why she had come and what she had left behind."
Page 22: "We all had the same stink, but everybody complained someone else smelled the worst."
Page 22: "Can you imagine how it is, to want to be neither inside nor outside, to want to be nowhere and disappear?"
Page 24: "But to despair was to wish back fro something already lost. Or to prolong what was already unbearable."
Page 72: "A boy can run and chase dragonflies, because that is his nature," she said. "But a girl should stand still. If you are still for a very long time, a dragonfly will no longer see you. Then it will come to you and hide in the comfort of your shade."
Page 165: "Fallen down," she says simply. She doesn't apologize. "It doesn't matter, " I say, and I start to pick up the broken glass shards. "I knew it would happen." "Then why you don't stop it?" asks my mother. And it's such a simple question.
Page 191: "It was only later that I discovered there was a serious flaw with the American version. There were too many choices, so it was day to get confused and pick the wrong thing."
Page 217: "'Now you see,' said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, 'why it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else's joy."
This is a good book to read to get a point of view of what it is like from the other side - a younger generation looking at an older generations' perspective and vice versa.
The Sense of an Ending by: Julian Barnes
Page 107: "Whisky, I find, helps clarity of thought. And reduces pain. It has the additional virtue of making you drunk or, if taken in sufficient quantity, very drunk."
Page 113: "Does character develop over time? In novels, of course it does: otherwise there wouldn't be much of a story. But in life? I sometimes wonder. Our attitudes and opinions change, we develop new habits and eccentricities; but that's something different, more like decoration. perhaps character resembles intelligence, except that character peaks a little later: between twenty and thirty, say. And after that, we're just stuck with what we've got. We're on our own. If so, that would explain a lot of lives, wouldn't it? And also- if this isn't too grand a world - our tragedy."
Page 113: "Life isn't just addition and subtraction. There's also the accumulation, the multiplication, of loss, of failure."
Page 114: "Start with the notion that yours int he sole responsibility unless there's powerful evidence to the contrary."
I remember reading this book a bit more than the previous book - however, not enough to make any remarks about it. :(
Page 113: "Does character develop over time? In novels, of course it does: otherwise there wouldn't be much of a story. But in life? I sometimes wonder. Our attitudes and opinions change, we develop new habits and eccentricities; but that's something different, more like decoration. perhaps character resembles intelligence, except that character peaks a little later: between twenty and thirty, say. And after that, we're just stuck with what we've got. We're on our own. If so, that would explain a lot of lives, wouldn't it? And also- if this isn't too grand a world - our tragedy."
Page 113: "Life isn't just addition and subtraction. There's also the accumulation, the multiplication, of loss, of failure."
Page 114: "Start with the notion that yours int he sole responsibility unless there's powerful evidence to the contrary."
I remember reading this book a bit more than the previous book - however, not enough to make any remarks about it. :(
I Knew You'd Be Lovely by: Alethea Black
Wow - I have not blogged in 10 months - however, I have still been doing some reading. I feel a little embarrassed to say that I do not even remember reading this book. I looked up the summer and its vaguely ringing a bell - but it's NOT coming back to me. I know I read it because I had saved notes and highlights on my Kindle. I will record that which were my favorite parts in hopes that it will cue my memory to recall the novel.
Page 15: "Love never repeats."
Page 17: "Best of all, it made him feel as if the unspoken in him were connecting with the unspoken in her, and it crossed his mind that this was all chemistry ever was: two people's silent selves invisibly aligning while their noisy selves carried on, oblivious."
Page 60: "Perfection isn't outside us. Perfection is a way of seeing."
Page 63: "And I'm no good at being in love, either," she said abruptly, shifting away from him. She sometimes had a talent for dispelling awkward moments by them even more awkward.
Page 66: "Sometimes you can miss something even when you know it's not for you anymore."
Page 113: "We're all allowed a kind of grace period, she decided, when we can coast along, before we really need to choose a life and summon the determination to live it."
Page 115: "She'd always liked the idea of savings, even if she wasn't particularly keen on its practice. She liked calling it saving, too, because it was like that: you think you're saving something, when actually, it saves you."
Page 162: "When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that you are weeping for that which has been your delight."
Page 171: "Wanting things too much is a form of sadness."
Page 173: "Often it is not even advantageous to know what will be. -Cicero"
Page 177: "Failure is not the enemy," he said. "Even the wrong choices can lead you in the right direction."
Page 177: "When dreams come true, they often don't look like you thought they would. Be prepared for that."
Page 182: "What occurrence is the most standard deviations away from your normal range of experience?"
Page 185: "My mother claims that people show you everything you need to know about them within the first hour of meeting them, it's just that most of us aren't paying attention."
So, this didn't help me remember specifics about the book - but it is kind of funny. As I was re-reading the highlights I made and typing them here, I kept thinking "Oh, I like that." And, it made me smile because of course I liked that, I highlighted it. Ah - its a wonderful thing to know yourself. :)
Page 15: "Love never repeats."
Page 17: "Best of all, it made him feel as if the unspoken in him were connecting with the unspoken in her, and it crossed his mind that this was all chemistry ever was: two people's silent selves invisibly aligning while their noisy selves carried on, oblivious."
Page 60: "Perfection isn't outside us. Perfection is a way of seeing."
Page 63: "And I'm no good at being in love, either," she said abruptly, shifting away from him. She sometimes had a talent for dispelling awkward moments by them even more awkward.
Page 66: "Sometimes you can miss something even when you know it's not for you anymore."
Page 113: "We're all allowed a kind of grace period, she decided, when we can coast along, before we really need to choose a life and summon the determination to live it."
Page 115: "She'd always liked the idea of savings, even if she wasn't particularly keen on its practice. She liked calling it saving, too, because it was like that: you think you're saving something, when actually, it saves you."
Page 162: "When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that you are weeping for that which has been your delight."
Page 171: "Wanting things too much is a form of sadness."
Page 173: "Often it is not even advantageous to know what will be. -Cicero"
Page 177: "Failure is not the enemy," he said. "Even the wrong choices can lead you in the right direction."
Page 177: "When dreams come true, they often don't look like you thought they would. Be prepared for that."
Page 182: "What occurrence is the most standard deviations away from your normal range of experience?"
Page 185: "My mother claims that people show you everything you need to know about them within the first hour of meeting them, it's just that most of us aren't paying attention."
So, this didn't help me remember specifics about the book - but it is kind of funny. As I was re-reading the highlights I made and typing them here, I kept thinking "Oh, I like that." And, it made me smile because of course I liked that, I highlighted it. Ah - its a wonderful thing to know yourself. :)
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