A snapshot of my reading week in quotes…
….“But I do beg you will not countenance that thoughtless way people have of flinging them up into the air. It is liable to do great harm, to confuse their intellects; and a girl, when grown into a woman, has greater need of her intellect than a man. It is a grievous error to fling them to the ceiling.”
….“God’s my life!” cried Jack, pausing in his stride. “You don’t tell me so? I thought they liked being tossed up – they laugh and crow and so on, almost human. But I shall never do it again, although they are only girls, poor little swabs.”
….“It is curious, the way you dwell upon their sex. They are your own children, for all love, your very flesh; and yet I could almost suppose, and not only from your referring to them as swabs, a disobliging term, that you were disappointed in them, merely for being girls. It is, to be sure, a misfortune for them – the Orthodox Jew daily thanks his Maker for not having been born a woman, and we might well echo his gratitude – but I cannot for the life of me see how it affects you, your aim being, as I take it, posterity, a vicarious immortality: and for that a girl is if anything a better assurance than a boy.”
~The Mauritius Command by Patrick O’Brian
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….That same day Rachel couldn’t remember which side her father had parted his hair on, and she’d realized again what she’d learned at five when her mother left – that what made losing someone you loved bearable was not remembering but forgetting. Forgetting small things first, the smell of the soap her mother had bathed with, the color of the dress she’d worn to church, then after a while the sound of her mother’s voice, the color of her hair. It amazed Rachel how much you could forget, and everything you forgot made that person less alive inside you until you could finally endure it. After more time had passed you could let yourself remember, even want to remember. But even then what you felt those first days could return and remind you the grief was still there, like old barbed wire embedded in a tree’s heartwood.
….And now this brown-eyed child. Don’t love it, Rachel told herself. Don’t love anything that can be taken away.
~Serena by Ron Rash
* * * * *
….“But you do believe, don’t you,” Rose implored him, “you think it’s true?”
….“Of course it’s true,” the Boy said. “What else could there be?” he went scornfully on. “Why,” he said, “it’s the only thing that fits. These atheists, they don’t know nothing. Of course there’s Hell. Flames and damnation,” he said with his eyes on the dark shifting water and the lightning and the lamps going out above the black struts of the Palace Pier, “torments.”
….“And Heaven too,” Rose said with anxiety, while the rain fell interminably on.
….“Oh, maybe,” the Boy said, “maybe.”
~Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
* * * * *
….Madam Flemington and the minister sat opposite to each other, silent. He was evidently trying to make a beginning of his business, but his companion was not in a mood to help him. He was a person who wearied her, and she hated red hair; besides which, she was an Episcopalian and out of sympathy with himself and his community. She found him common and limited, and at the present moment, intrusive.
….“It’s sma’ pleasure I have in coming to Ardguys the day,” he began, and then stopped, because her eyes paralysed his tongue.
….“You are no flatterer,” said she.
….But the contempt in her voice braced him.
….“Indeed, that I am not, madam,” he replied; “neither shall it be said of me that I gang back from my duty. Nane shall assail nor make mock of the Kirk while I am its minister.”
….“Who has made a mock of the Kirk, my good man?”
….“Airchie.”
….The vision of her eight-year-old grandson going forth, like a young David, to war against the Presbyterian stronghold, brought back Madam Flemington’s good-humour.
….“Ye may smile, madam,” said Duthie, plunged deeper into the vernacular by agitation, “ay, ye may lauch. But it ill beseems the grey hair on yer pow.”
….Irony always pleased her and she laughed outright, showing her strong white teeth. It was not only Archie and the Kirk that amused her, but the whimsical turn of her own fate which had made her hear such an argument from a man. It was not thus that men had approached her in the old days.
~Flemington by Violet Jacob
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Flemington sounds interesting.
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I thoroughly enjoyed it – another “forgotten” classic that deserves to be better known… 😀
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Serena and Madame Flemington…..the others not so much, thankfully. Batting 500.
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NOT SERENA!!! That’s the one I reviewed yesterday that was awful – don’t be fooled by the lovely quote! 😉 Flemington, however, was excellent…
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Ha! How soon this distracted brain lowers its guard! Don’t be fooled by the man behind the curtain…..
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Haha! No, indeed! 😂
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I have Brighton Rock in my Audible library so looking forward to that one 😁
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I loved Brighton Rock – haven’t reviewed it yet because of my current reviewers’ block, but it will be a 5-star for both book and narration… 😀
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Oh great! That’ll be my next audio 😁
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Enjoy! 😀
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Thank goodness for Flemington, the other extracts were depressing!
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Flemington was excellent – I must review it before I forget what it was about! The only other one of these that I’d recommend would be Brighton Rock – depressing, but in a good way! 😉
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That quote from Serena is haunting but lovely!
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His writing is lovely, but unfortunately his plot in this one was so silly – if you fancy reading him, I’d recommend The Cove instead… 😀
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I don’t do fiction but I like to read these kind of excerpts here and there 🙂
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I often think these quotes give a better idea of the book than my reviews! 😉
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I know what you mean…I always feel like I pack my reviews with so many quotes but they represent it better than I think I can!
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It also gives an idea of the writer’s style which is really important in whether a book works for a particular reader or not.
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Flemington looks good, I need to get my act together and start engaging with Scottish literature again. I also put Brighton Rock on the reading list I created before Lockdown, so I’ll get to it eventually, maybe in a few years.
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Flemington was excellent – I must try to write a review before I forget all the details! I also loved Brighton Rock, and the narration was great – another one that’s waiting for a review. I’ll be getting the sack from the blogosphere soon… 😉
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I am interested in Brighton Rock, FictionFan. I can see how it could draw a person in. Serena, though? Umm…still thinking…. still no. 😉
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I thought Brighton Rock was great – one of Greene’s best. And unlike Serena, it captures the real noir feel, even though it doesn’t have quite the glamour of the femme fatale and so on – seedy noir. What a difference!
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I guess I’m in the minority here when I say O’Brian’s book tempts me. I read the first three books in the series and hadn’t gotten to this one. Flemington looks good too.
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I really tried with the O’Brian but I’m afraid all the sailing jargon was too much for me in the end, and I abandoned it. *sobs* Flemington, however, was excellent… 😀
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Not sure any of these sound appealing right now. I’m probably just being curmudgeonly because I’m getting tired of having to stay home. That, and I’m bone-weary, after hitting the grocery-store at 6 a.m. today (after a two-week hiatus). And despite everybody saying the trucks are bringing in products, there are still lots of empty shelves. Grr!
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Ha! Even just the idea of shopping at 6 a.m. exhausts me! Our supermarket seems to have got most stuff back in stock now but I’m finding doing very occasional big shops weird – I usually pop down every few days. It’s amazing how as soon as I get home, I remember all the things I forgot to buy… 😉
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Shame on you for sharing one of the better excerpts from Serena! You might make someone want to read it! (and we know how that would probably turn out) 😉
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Hahaha, I know! This is what happens when you write your posts out of order! When I did this one I still hoped Serena might redeem herself at some point…;)
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Now that quote from Serena is lovely! But having read your review i’m definitely not tempted 😀
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I think that why I got so grumpy with him – he’s such a good wordsmith, but the plot of Serena was so dire! Grrr!
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The Flemington does attract my attention and I’ll be interested to read your thoughts on it (in due course 🙂). The writing in the Rash extract is why I will, in time, read the three novels of his that I have yet to read.
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Yes, he really does write some lovely prose and I’d be willing to read another of his some time to see if he can redeem himself, but next time I’ll read the blurb and reviews more carefully before jumping in! Flemington was excellent, and I really must try to write a review of it before I forget why… 😀
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Well I’m pleased to have your recommendation anyway 🙂
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I’m pleased to have enjoyed a Scottish classic again after a little run of disappointments! Maybe this will be the start of a run of goodies…
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I hope you do have lots of enticing classics to come. You have indirectly influenced my local library again! I requested them to purchase an ecopy of Flemington and I got an almost instant positive response, so I’m looking forward to reading this soon. I’ve been buried in Dundee and Angus recently with my family researching so I’m especially interested in these stories.
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Oh good! I didn’t read the tales, leaping straight to the novel, but I’ll definitely go back and read them. The novel too is set mostly in that area, but also takes in Edinburgh. The Scottish Books book I’m reading is adding to my list, though not quite as much as I’d hoped…
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I like how your Brighton Rock quote is almost…funny? Does that make me sound cynical? I barked out in laughter when I read it!
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Ha! Yes, it is funny out of context like that! But it’s actually quite tragic in the book. I’m often surprised by how differently the quotes appear just on their own without the background…
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Really must read more of Greene.
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I went through a huge love affair with his books in my teens and early twenties and have been enjoying revisiting him recently. Some of them are a bit dated now, but when he’s on form, he’s brilliant… 😀
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Gosh, Brighton Rock is good – just that paragraph made me feel shivery!
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It really is a great one! I loved a lot of his books back in my teens and twenties but for some reason had never read Brighton Rock before – glad I finally did!
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Brighton Rock sounds good. I’ve always meant to read more Graham Greene.
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I loved Brighton Rock! It was one I never got round to back in my big Graham Greene phase in my teens and twenties, but it’s definitely one of his best.
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Graham Greene because I have some of his books but haven’t read any of them 😂
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I read tons of his books when I was young but missed this one. I’ve re-read a few recently and mostly they still hold up very well – hope you enjoy him if you get to him! 😀
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