“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.” Franz Kafka

I understand this now, more than ever.

Art in Fiction

Today's memorable passages are inspired by my post on What Women Write, talking about capturing life in fiction. 

On paintings, from Donna Tartt's Goldfinch:

“—if a painting really works down in your heart and changes the way you see, and think, and feel, you don’t think, ‘oh, I love this picture because it’s universal.’ ‘I love this painting because it speaks to all mankind.’ That’s not the reason anyone loves a piece of art. It’s a secret whisper from an alleyway. Psst, you. Hey kid. Yes you.” 

On savoring life's moments, from Rachel Joyce's exquisite novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry:

“He must have driven this way countless times, and yet he had no memory of the scenery. He must have been so caught up in the day's agenda, and arriving punctually at their destination, that the land beyond the car had been no more than a wash of one green, and a backdrop of one hill. Life was very different when you walked through it.” 

Memorable passages

When I started reading e-books on my iPad, I noticed sentences and paragraphs underlined in dots. An e-reader feature that confused me when I first saw it, I learned those dots indicated passages that readers often highlighted. Passages that perhaps defined a character or touched on the book's theme (or both). But also, passages that spoke directly to me, the reader, provoking two words to flash across my mind. Yes, this.

So every once in a while, I’m going to share some of my favorites. Hope the words seep into your world as they have mine. And to start, what better than a passage about words?

"There is something about words. In expert hands, manipulated deftly, they take you prisoner. Wind themselves around your limbs like spider silk, and when you are so enthralled you cannot move, they pierce your skin, enter your blood, numb your thoughts. Inside you they work their magic."

Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale