In the comments for this section, I invite you to share any quotations that strike your fancy. I'll go first.
Not only was Aaron so cool that he could afford to drive the world's most uncool vehicle, but he'd made it seem so cool that other kids had started asking their moms for their hand-me-down, high-mileage vans.If you want to, add a little explanation of why it appeals to you.
[By the way -- and I may be one of the few people in America to whom this matters -- but "quote" is a verb. "Quotation" is the noun form. You find a passage that you'd like to quote from -- then put the quotation into the yearbook.]
Here are my favorite *quotations* from _Goldengrove_:
ReplyDelete- "I thought, People see everything through the lens of their obsessions." (Nico p. 199)
- "[The watch] was proof that they knew me well enough to know what I would love. They'd bought it for me, only me." (Nico p. 236)
- "This was what I'd wanted. This was what everyone wanted ... They prayed to be lifted and set down where they belonged." (Nico p. 242)
- (After almost having been raped) "The thought of bacon made me think there might be a reason to go on living." (Nico p. 256)
-- Sol Boucher
Among my favorite "Goldengrove" quotations are:
ReplyDelete-"I remember [Mom] saying you had to learn to exist on the line between loving the world and wanting to live in another world completely (72)."
-"The Great Disappointment- whatever you hope for, you're not going to get." (Dad, 88)
-"Margaret would have seen something even odder and cooler...now she was gone, and here was Aaron and the dull little sister, and all she could see was a sheep (116)." (I probably should have posted this quotation with my comment about "My Little Valentine" relating to the way Nico views herself.)
-Dylan Schiff
I stick mini sticky notes in pages I want to keep track of, and so the quotations in Goldengrove that made me stop and think (and are sticky-note-marked) are
ReplyDelete-"I felt as if...I'd become a petri dish in which my sister was growing." (Nico, 174)
-"I hated how gorwn-up I needed to be in order to keep reminding myself that [my parents] were doing their best." (Nico, 175)
-"I was borrowing from Margaret, whose wardrobe had been sorted into spheres of magical power. The red math-test sweater, the black skirt for musical performances, the blue shirt with the silver comet for special dates with Aaron." (Nico, 202)
As for the last one, I used to have certain colors that were lucky for tests, but I'm not sure if they really worked or not. You never know... : )
-Beverly Naigles
My favorite quote in Goldengrove was one that made me stop and think. It was very touching and had a lot of meaning when I thought about it...
ReplyDelete"The strangest part was how she was alive and now she isn't. That's the thing I can't get past. I can't get my head around it. The absence. How someone can be here one minute, and the next minute they're gone. You tell them everything in your life and then they...can't be reached. Unlisted number forever."(Aaron,105)
~Julia Lachut
And when I said quote, of course I meant my favorite "Quotation" from Goldengrove :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to stray from the Goldengrove theme here, and though I can't post entire chapters from The Return of the Native, I'd certainly like to. This really caught my attention: "All similes and allegories concerning [Thomasin] began and ended with birds." (207). It goes on, giving a few perfect examples, but how great is that? He captured an entire person in a sentance. Like a birdcage, not very big, but a whole life exists inside.
ReplyDelete"The jagged edge in my voice tore away the cobwebby trance she'd been in." (19) The adjectives here keep with a theme; earlier on the page Nico described the piece her mother is playing as "...that spooky Chopin waltz.".
ReplyDeleteAlso, "The day of the funeral was windy and cold. I imagined Margaret stage-managing the scene for maximum tragic drama. I wondered if the newly dead were allowed to control the weather as a consolation for never again feeling it on their faces." (24). This really made me think about the weather at the funerals I've unfourtunatly been to, and I think she may be right.
There is one quotation in Goldengrove that stands out to me above everything else. Aaron says during his last visit with Nico, "Let me tell you something about your sister. This was maybe a year ago. We were hanging out on the dock by your house, and I said I couldn't imagine painting anything as corny as a lake. She laughed. You remember that laugh. She said, 'It depends how you do it. You can make paintings of the lake that are total genius. Let's make a bet. You paint the lake, and everyone will love it. And I'll take some sentimental piece of crap like "My Funny Valentine" and sing it so the whole school has one collective orgasm.'"
ReplyDeleteTo many of you this quote probably just seems like Aaron being his crazy self, but to me this quote really hit home. I have a very close relationship with my sister and I can't imagine how I would feel if my sister died, and her boyfriend told me he knew who she really was and I didn't. Nico viewed "My Funny Valentine" as something that was purely Margaret, and to find out that it was a joke would have devastated me. In my opinion, the bond that two sisters share is uncomparible, and for Aaron to make Nico feel like her relationship with Margaret was less than his own, is wrong.
Sorry forgot the page number, you can find this quotation on page 254 :)
ReplyDeleteA couple statements that caught my eye from _The Return of the Native_--I know people's page numbers will probably be very different for this book, but I'll give those from my edition anyway:
ReplyDelete- "'You will not be afraid?' ...
'No, because I have the crooked sixpence.' ...
'No other boy in the heath has had such a bonfire as yours.'
The boy, who clearly had had too much of a good thing, marched away into the shadows with alacrity." (Eustacia and the boy p. 66)
- "It was felt at once that the mouth did not come over from Sleswig with a band of Saxon pirates whose lips met like the two halves of a muffin." (p. 72)
-- Sol Boucher
From A Moon for the Misbegotten:
ReplyDeleteJosie: "He only acts like he's hard and shameless to get back at life when it's tormenting him - and who doesn't?" (pg. 30)
-Beverly Naigles
As I was reading The Return of the Native, I came across an awesome quote on the bottom of page 192: "There are instances of persons who, without clear ideas of the things they criticize, have yet had clear ideas of the relations of those things...In the social sphere these gifted ones are mostly women; they can watch a world which they never saw, and estimate forces of which they have only heard. We call it intuition." This quote fits Mrs. Yeobright perfectly because she could sense that Clym shouldn't marry Eustacia and that it was very bad that Wildeve and Thomasin didn't marry on the day they were supposed to be wed. She had such a sense for the future. Also, I think it is just a good quote for women. Go us!
ReplyDeleteA MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN
ReplyDeleteWhile reading A Moon for the Misbegotten, I have come across two quotations (so far) that I have absolutely loved. Since I have my own copies of the summer reading books, I highlight whatever I think might be important, and if I find myself reading over a particular line over and over again, I know that it must be a great quotation. Here are two that really stuck out in my mind while I was reading:
PAGE 10:
from Mike to Josie: "You've never cared about your virtue, or what man you went out with. You've always been brazen as brass and proud of your disgrace. You can't deny that, Josie."
PAGE 83:
from Phil Hogan to Josie: "Be God, you've got the proud, fighting spirit in you that never says die, and you make me ashamed of my weakness."
Now that I see both of these quotations typed out together, I find it quite interesting that I chose to highlight two which are so similar. Both quotations emphasize just how strong and independent and courageous Josie is. If she wants something, she'll go for it. I admire all of the outstanding qualities which Josie possesses, and I believe that her characteristics are what make her such an admirable woman; she truly does embody female empowerment.
- Liz Elliott
A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN
ReplyDeletePAGE 99:
from Jim Tyrone to Josie: "You're beautiful to me."
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! :) ♥
PAGE 114:
Jim Tyrone: "We can kid the world but we can't fool ourselves."
I thought that this line was SO powerful. I must have read over it ten times, and then I continued on with my reading. I think that the message is fantastic. This is what I got from it: we can lie to others, and we can put up a fake front, but we ourselves know what is true. Again, I thought that this was a GREAT quotation with a lot of meaning behind it. I think that what makes it so great is that everyone can relate to it. This quotation can be applied to someone's life, based on whatever their particular interpretation of it might be.
PAGE 124:
Jim Tryone [talking about himself after the death of his mother]: "I got drunk and I stayed drunk."
I also thought that this quotation was incredibly powerful, both in a literal and a figurative sense. Yes, Jim turned to drinking in the hopes that all of his problems would be solved, which they wouldn't be, but he was also "drunk" in a figurative sense as well. He had no idea what to do with himself after his mother became sick and died. He just couldn't face losing her, and he unfortunately thought that drinking would be his way of coping.
- Liz Elliott
A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN
ReplyDeletePAGE 126:
Jim Tyrone: "I suppose I had some mad idea she could make me forget-what was in the baggage car ahead."
This line was slightly creepy to read and think about, but I loved it. I thought it painted a great picture. I can just see Jim sitting on the train in his depressed state, and then I can see him with his blonde "friend," and then I can see his mother's body (which he had to bring back to the East with him) in the very next car. Again, as weird as it might be, I loved the strong image that this quotation created in my head while I was reading.
- Liz Elliott
A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN
ReplyDeletePAGE 141:
Josie: "You were full of blarney, saying how beautiful I was to you."
Tryone: "That wasn't drivel, Josie. You were. You are. You always will be."
There's no explanation as to why I like this, other than: AWWWWWWWWW! ♥
PAGE 143:
Tyrone: "It's hard to describe how I feel. It's a new one on me. Sort of at peace with myself and this lousy life--as if all my sins have been forgiven--"
I really liked this quotation from Jim because it shows how sensitive he can be, talking about his emotions and all. It was nice to finally see him being at peace with everything around him, including himself. I think he loved exactly where he was (in Josie's arms) and I don't think he would've left, but unfortunately, it was what he had to do.
- Liz Elliott
There were quite a few quotations that I wrote down while reading A Moon for the Misbegotten.
ReplyDeletePage 17
Josie: "Sure, everyone says you're a wicked old tick, as crooked as a corkscrew."
Hogan: "I know. They're an envious lot, God forgive them."
I thought this was pretty ironic, considering it is very clear people would not be jealous of their scheming way of life. Secondly, Hogan goes on to make fun of Mike's religion. It shows early on in the book how the characters tend to kid themselves.
Page 125
Tyrone: (talking about his mother's death) "I ought to be heartbroken but I couldn't feel anything. I knew I ought to cry... So I put on an act."
This quotation kind of summed up how Tyrone's mother's death affected him. He had to put on an expressionless face to tell the story to Josie. He had to become numb to what happened, and his life since has been an act to cover his sadness.
Audrey Corbin
Page 129
ReplyDeleteJosie: “Our night that’ll be different from all the others, with a dawn that won’t creep over dirty windowpanes but will wake the sky like a promise of God’s peace in the soul’s dark sadness.
Will you listen to me, Jim! I must be a poet. Who would have guessed it? Sure, love is a wonderful mad inspiration!”
As Jim spills his tragic story about his mother, Josie shows “maternal tenderness.” She has finally shaken the front of a threatening, fierce woman, yet is still different from the Broadway girls whom Jim usually wakes up with. She even surprises herself, amused at her own love for him!
Page 121 A Moon for the Misbegotten
ReplyDeleteTyrone: "You said I looked dead, well I am. Ever since Mama died."
I know Sol posted this already, but I thought the quote on page 199 of Goldengrove was fantastic and has to be shared again.
ReplyDelete"...People see everything through the lens of their obsessions."
This couldn't be more true. Everyone knows the people that, when something important happens to them, they constantly relate back to it. For example, someone who has broken their leg will always say something like, "I could have done that before the accident." I try (and probably often fail) not to "see through the lens of my obsessions", because it drives me crazy when other people do it, but I think it's human nature.
I completely agree with Troy and Sol on that one quote above..."People see everything through the lens of their obsessions."
ReplyDeleteThis quote is very, very true and once I wrapped my head around all the meanings it contains, it's such a good quote. Everyone in this world is so obsessed with their own lives that they hardly listen to others. Coming back from vacation across the U.S. I have realized that this world contains so many people; I am just one in a million. Although you may feel very important in Tolland, CT, look at the world around you-it is filled with millions of others who are just as important, and if not, even more important than you. And yet when something happens in your own life you obsess over it and feel that its the end of the world. Then, you see everything affecting just you and not help with anyone else's concerns or needs. I have caught myself doing this before because everyone does it, we are human, and see everything through the lens of our own obsessions...
So, whenever something bad happens next in your own life, take a step back and look at the whole perspective of things. It is usually not the end of the world, and can heal over time. It is all on how you look at it and perceive the world around you. :)
~Julia Lachut
Here are some more of my favorite quotations from _The Return of the Native_:
ReplyDelete- "[Clym] had reached the stage in a young man's life when the grimness of the general human situation first becomes clear ..." (192).
- "A bird searching for worms in the mould of the flowerbeds sounded like [Eustacia's] hand on the latch of the gate; and at dusk, when soft strange ventriloquisms came from holes in the ground, hollow stalks, curled dead leaves, and other crannies wherein breezes, worms, and insects can work their will, [Clym] fancied that they were Eustacia ..." (343).
- "Even supposing him capable of loving again, that love would be a plant of slow and laboured growth, and in the end only small and sickly, like an autumn-hatched bird," (385).
- "[Diggory] ascended the valley in a mathematically direct line towards his distant home in the meadows," (387).
- "[The mattress-makers] sat down to a lunch in the midst of their work, feathers around, above, and below them; the original owners of which occasionally came to the open door and cackled begrudgingly at sight of such a quantity of their old clothes," (399).
-- Sol Boucher
The quotations I found most intriguing from Book One of "Return of the Native" are:
ReplyDelete-Persons with any weight of character carry, like planets, their atmospheres along with them in their orbits (33).
-"But though idle people might call it work, working people would call it play (Venn, 97)."
-Dylan Schiff
One of Sol's first quotations reminds me of something I do:
ReplyDelete- "The thought of bacon made me think there might be a reason to go on living," (Nico p. 256).
In class, sometimes I'll look out the window towards the highway and think to myself, "People are driving on that highway, living their lives. There's a whole other world out there outside this school. People do different things to pass the same time I'm in right now. Think of someone who is watching a show or movie. Time goes by really fast when you're enjoying what you're watching. Pretend class is like watching that show or movie. It will make the class more enjoyable." Although it's weird, it actually works pretty well for me.
Quotes from Moon for the Misbegotten:
ReplyDeleteJosie- I do my work and I earn my keep and I've a right to be free. (p. 14) I just thinks this showed a ton about who Josie was and showed that she was a very strong woman. It was almost empowering.
Hogan-No, I wouldn't think it, but my motto in life is never to trust anyone too far, not even myself. (p. 17)I just thought that this was an interesting idea. Mainly the not trusting yourself too far. It just made me think.
Hogan-Are you running away from him? Sure, you must be afraid you're in love. (p. 25.) Just an interesting way to look at people who are in love. If you think about it you probably know someone in real life or in another work that has run away because they were afraid of admitting to being in love.
Tyrone- Water? That's something people wash with isn't it? I mean, some people.
Hogan- So I've heard. But, like you, I find it hard to believe. It's a dirty habit. They must be foreigners. (p. 31) Just a comical line.
These are my three favorites. I have a few more that I may post later if I have time.
- Jen Rankin
Ok now I can finish posting my quotes from Moon for the Misbegotten.
ReplyDeleteHogan- I'd kiss you, Jim, for this beautiful news, if you wasn't so damned ugly. Maybe Josie'll do it for me. She has a stronger stomach. (p. 35) I just thought that this was a funny quote from Hogan.
Tyrone- ...There is no present or future- only the past happening over and over again- now. (p. 85). This reminds me of the expression "history repeats itself". I thought it was an interesting way of putting the expression.
That's all the quotes that I thought were funny or interesting.
-Jen Rankin
From The Return of the Native
ReplyDelete"[The heath] was at present a place perfectly accordant with man's nature- neither glastly, hateful, nor ugly: neither common-place, unmeaning, nor tame; but, like man, slighted and enduring; and withal singularity colossal and mysterious in its swarthy monotony." (Page 13)
I found it interesting how Thomas Hardy reflected humanity in the place where his characters live. It not only revealed something about people, but also about the heath's sublime qualities and its role in their lives.
Audrey Corbin
From The Return of the Native:
ReplyDeletePAGE 2
"Twilight combined with the scenery of Egdon Heath to evolve a thing majestic without severity, impressive without showiness, emphatic in its admonitions, grand in its simplicity."
PAGE 3
"Civilization was its [Egdon] enemy."
PAGE 4
"The sea changed, the fields changed, the rivers, the villages, and the people changed, yet Egdon remained."
I am obsessed with these three quotations and I feel as though they all reflect Egdon Heath SO well, working together to create this image of Egdon that I have in my head. These quotations make me think back to simpler times, and just how natural and earthy Egdon must be. I love how its beauty is probably subtle, yet noticeable, and even after so many things are forced to change over time, the greatness of Egdon is still able to remain.
- Liz Elliott
Why I love Thomas Hardy....
ReplyDelete"Occasionally she came to a spot where independent worlds of ephemerons were passing their time in mad carousel, some in the air, some on the hot ground and vegetation, the tepid and stringy water of a nearly dried pool. All the shallower ponds had decreased to vaporous mud amid which the maggoty shapes of innumerable obscure creatures could be distinctly seen, heaving and wallowing with enjoyment." (pg.276)
And to think some authors would have said - She walked by a pond with bugs flying above it.
Also from the The Return of the Native
ReplyDeleteThink about this the next time you are in an arguement...
"There was in his face that hopelessness of being understood which comes when the objector is constitutionally beyond the reach of a logic that, even under favouring conditions, is almost too coarse a vehicle for the subtlety of the arguement." (pg.179)
I had to read this one over a few times before I got it but when I finally did I realized I feel like this every time I argue with my dad. We will just never understand the other's point of view and our arguing is really never going to get us anywhere!
Quotations from Goldengrove:
ReplyDelete"The Great Disappointment- whatever you hope for, you're not going to get." (Dad, 88) I found this quotation to be comical and truthful to life.
"I was borrowing from Margaret, whose wardrobe had been sorted into spheres of magical power. The red math-test sweater, the black skirt for musical performances, the blue shirt with the silver comet for special dates with Aaron." (Nico, 202) I found this to be an indirect connection because my sister (as many as you know) does something very similar when there is a test.
-Matt Gaudio
Alright only one more quotation for Return of the Native...for now!
ReplyDeleteEustacia says of the heath on page 89, "Tis my cross, my shame, and will be my death!"
When I was reading I highlighted this quotation because I liked the way Hardy personified the Heath but I didn't realize how literally the heath would lead to her demise. I love this quotation because it shows Hardy's amazing ability to foreshadow and develop the heath into a character. It seems like such an unimportant line but when I looked back through the book after I finished reading I realized he gave it all away right there but I was not been keen enough to pick up on it at the time.
My most favorite quotations from "Return of the Native" books two and three are:
ReplyDelete- "If they'd never been taught to write they wouldn't have been able to scribble such villainy (110)."
- "I belong to one man; nothing can alter that (Thomasin, 115)." Doesn't it seem odd that Eustacia does everything is her power to get everything she wants, while Thomasin appears to take what she is given and bear with it?
- "When [Charley] ended she began, precisely in the same words, and ranted on... till she too reached the end. It was the same thing, yet how different (127)." This is by far my most favorite quotation of the whole book because it is saying the same thing that I have been thinking since I first saw this blog- how amazing it is to have the people read the same book and come away with, observe, and want to know more about such different things!
Matt - I saw that quotation and thought exactly the same thing. Just for the record, however, pink totally does help Jenn (and me...but I only do it sometimes) do well on tests so don't knock it : )!
ReplyDelete~Beverly Naigles
My favorite quotation in Moon for the Misbegotten was, "There is no present or future, only the past, happening over and over again, now." I think this is a perfect quote for our current time period. Not to be political (and keeping my own opinions to myself), we are at a crossroads in history. Many of the things of the past are happening again, much of it parallel to the early 1930's. We will see is we are repeating the past, and if so, for the better or for the worse.
ReplyDelete-David Della Camera
Return of the Native
ReplyDeletePage 91 "But the bird, like many other philosophies, seemed as he looked at the reddleman to think that a present moment at comfortable reality was worth a decade of memories."
Page 98 "She [Eustacia] had advanced to the secret recesses of sensuousness, yet had hardly crossed the threshold of conventionality."
Page 176 "He [Clym] had a conviction that the want of men was knowledge of a sort which brings wisdom rather than affluence."
Page 207 "When a woman once dislikes another, she is merciless!"
Quotations from A Moon for the Misbegotten:
ReplyDeleteJosie: "I do my work and I earn my keep and I've a right to be free." (p. 19) I found this quotation interesting because it really showed who the character of Josie was.
Hogan: "...my motto in life is never trust anyone too far, not even myself." (p. 22) I found this quotation to tell a little about who Hogan is. I also found this to be a fact of life, especially in today's society where you can't trust anyone fully.
Hogan: "The world must be full of liars." (p. 40) I found this quotation to be so true to real life now. Just as with the other quotation, you can't trust nobody because there are so many liars in the world.
Josie: "Sit down before you split in pieces on the floor and I have to get the wheelbarrow to collect you." (p. 69) I found this line to be comical and represents the sarcasm Josie has throughout the book.
Josie: "I think now Mike was the only one in this house with sense." (p.73) I found this line to be somewhat ironic because in the beginning of the book, Josie and Hogan, thought he had no sense in him being so faithful, but now they think he was the only one with any sense in the family at all.
Tyrone- ...There is no present or future- only the past happening over and over again- now. I found this line to be true to the world because we are reliving past historical events over again. As the saying today goes, history is repeating itself.
-Matt Gaudio
Quotations from Goldengrove:
ReplyDelete"I didn't care if Mom liked the song. I'd heard it as a promise. Some boy would come along some day and love me for myself, even if I was unphotographable, or a few pounds overweight. Being somebody's laughable valentine was better than being no one's, funny or not."(p. 7) I think that this quote is not only important for Nico to keep in mind, but I think that all girls should keep this in mind. They need to be willing to wait for a guy who loves them for them, not for someone they want them to be. Thinking about this now, the quote is actually ironic because Nico ends up thinking that Aaron loves her, and even though she knows that he only loves her because she looks like Margaret, she still goes along with it.
"The only semi-comforting part was that we didn't have to talk. They'd been dreaming about her too. The mystery of death, the riddle of how you could speak to someone and see them every day and then never again, was so impossible to fathom that of course we kept trying to figure it out, even when we were unconscious." (p. 37) I think that this quote states perfectly the initial feelings that people go through when someone has died. How can a person that you have always seen just suddenly vanish? It's a difficult thing to think about, never mind understand.
"I thought, people see everything through the lens of their obsessions." (p. 199) I love this quote just because it's so true! When you watch a movie or do anything, you think about it in terms of what you like, or what you are obsessed with, which is why no two people see one thing the same.
"I was greatful to him for calling me back and reminding me where I belonged, in the clamorous, radiant, painfully beautiful kingdom of the living." (p. 275) I just liked how it describes life. Life is a beautiful thing and so reading this quote made me happy.
"The cabin smelled sweetish and rotten, like a dead mouse in the wall." (p. 256) This quote is only here because it was ironic that I read it on the day that I did. I read Goldengrove while I was on vacation in Pennsylvania and one day I was sitting in the hotel room reading and I looked over and I saw a mouse peaking it's head out from the air conditioner box in the wall. Later that night after we changed rooms was when I read this line so I found it comical.
-Jen Rankin
Some _A Moon for the Misbegotten_ quotations:
ReplyDelete- "[MIKE] never forgets that he is a good Catholic, faithful to all the observances, and so is one of the élite of Almighty God in a world of damned sinners composed of Protestants and bat Catholics." (6)
- "JOSIE [to her father]: You've the same bad luck in sons I have in brothers." (16)
- "Christ, Father, it's nice and quiet out here away from the damned Sixth Avenue El. I wish to hell I could stay here!" -- Dutch Maisie, pretending to be a nun (qtd. on 35)
- "HOGAN [to THRONE]: So you've a weak heart? Well, well, and me thinking all along it was your head." (40)
- "HOGAN: ... to talk to meself so I'll know someone with brains is listening." (69)
- "[HOGAN] turns a round-house swing that misses THRONE by a couple of feet, and reels away. THRONE regards him with vague surprise." (87)
-- Sol Boucher
Quotations from "The Return of the Native":
ReplyDelete"Persons with any weight of character carry, like planets, their atmospheres along with them in their orbits; and the matron who entered now upon the scene could, and usually did, bring her own tone into the company." (p. 33) I thought this was a great way to describe how much of a presence Eustacia had upon people. It also is kind of cool to think about how every person has their own "planets" that they have with them at all times. We all have things that we carry around with us and those things, like our families,interests, and personalities, make up our "planets"..at least that's how I saw it.
"It was felt at once that that mouth did not come over from Sleswig with a band of Saxon pirates whose lips met like the two halves of a muffin." (p. 69) I just thought this was a funny way to describe how two people's lips meet. It made me laugh. It's just a great simile.
"Nothing can ensure the continuance of love. It will evaporate like a spirit, and so I feel full of fears." (p. 200) Unfortunately this quote is very true to all people and in my opinion, describes how people feel in their heads when they think about love. We are all slightly afraid that our love for another person will not last, or rather that their love for us will not last.
"No. Only I dread to think of anything beyond the present. What is, we know. We are together now, and it is unknown how long we shall be so: the unknown always fills my mind with terrible possibilities, even when I may reasonably expect it to be cheerful..." (p. 204) This quote made me think of myself when I read it. I tend to not look too far into the future because I don't know what is going to come and I don't want to think that bad events could occur.
"Sometimes Eustacia, I think it is a judgment upon you. You rightly belonged to me, you know; and I had no idea of losing you." (p. 288) I think that this quote just makes the ending even more appropriate. Wildeve always thought of Eustacia as his own and it is obvious from her actions, that Eustacia also liked him. They were separated through the whole book even though they believed that they were supposed to be together, so them dying together finally puts them together.
-Jen Rankin
The Return of the Native:
ReplyDelete"To plunge into that medium was to plunge into water slightly diluted with air." (358) Excellent description, Thomas Hardy.
"'Never mind that question, Grandfer. Stir your stumps and get some more sticks. 'Tis very nonsense of an old man to prattle so when life and death's in mangling.'" (295) Maybe it was because it was pretty late, but I laughed at the 'stir your stumps' part. I loved these characters, especially Grandfer and Christian Cantle with their constant bickering.
So this probably seems totally random but as I was looking over my blogs for this book, I realized that I never posted the blog that contained my original thoughts on the book. I got so caught up in what everyone else had said that I ended up responding to their blogs and forgot to post this blog, which I wrote as soon as I finished the book, and it has been sitting on my computer ever since. So…
ReplyDeleteThis is the first summer reading book that I have read, and I really did enjoy it. I found it very impressive that Prose was able to make this book as interesting as it was with what seemed like very little action. My favorite part of this book was probably the beginning. I really enjoyed the dialogue between Nico and Margaret. I am a big sister and I could always pick up on the similarities between the conversations I have with my sister and the conversations they had. It is ironic to me, that my sister and I are completely different people from Margaret and Nico, but the interactions between us were so similar. I am always amazed by the similarities in family dynamics in literature and in real life. So, when Margaret died I was quite disappointed because I was truly enjoying her presence in the book. After that, the book was still enjoyable; I just missed Margaret, probably because I kept thinking about what I would do if I lost my sister. I am just glad that Aaron came into the story shortly after, because the part of the book were Margaret was gone and before Aaron came in was boring.
Next, I would like to say that I need better creeper radar, because I was pretty sure until the very end that somehow Aaron was going to realize that Nico was his true love, and stop pretending she was Margaret. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I did like the ending that Prose ended up with, I just had this crazy plan in my head that they were both going to realize that Margaret died so they could be together, because they were meant to be, and they would spend the rest of their lives together, with the memory of Margaret, and the knowledge that she was what brought them together. I know crazy, especially since finishing the book I am pretty sure everyone else felt very differently about Aaron, hence the need for better creeper radar.
Also, my comments about Nico. I liked Nico as a person, some of the things she did made me laugh. I loved picturing her in the bookstore, lying on the floor, investigating the greater meaning of life in various books. Sometimes it sounded nice to spend a quiet afternoon alone in the bookstore with access to tons of books; I am just not sure my book choices would have been the same as Nico’s! Also, I have to say that I am not sure if I were in Nico’s position I would have ditched Aaron any earlier. Reading this book and realizing what a creep Aaron was, it is easy to say I would never continue to hang out with him but in reality he was the only thing she had to hang on to. And I am not sure I would have given that up.
One last thing that I want to mention is Nico’s parents. I wished that her parents were different. I like the concept of her parents not being there for her, and the notion of her family being broken. But I just wish that her Mom could have been anything but a drug addict. That was the most unrealistic thing to me. Overall though I thought that the book was enjoyable and well worth reading.
Announcement I suck at blogging lol...this is supposed to be under the Goldengrove section so I am just going to post it there sorry
ReplyDeleteThe Return of the Native
ReplyDeletePage 10: "It seemed as if the bonfire-makers were standing in some radiant upper storey of the world, detached from and independent of the dark stretches below."
Page 23: "Persons with any weight of character carry, like planers, their atmospheres along with them in their orbits."
I think that this so so true about anyone with an outstanding personality. Just being near them, you can sense that they are an interesting and fun person to be around, and I like the way that Hardy described this atmosphere in a literal sense with the use of planets and orbits.
Page 49: "She [Eustacia] had the passions and instincts which make a model goddess, that is, those which make not quite a model woman."
Page 50: "Her [Eustacia] appearance accorded well with this smoldering rebelliousness, and the shady splendour of her beauty was the real surface of the sad and stifled warmth within her."
Page 58: "A child's first sight of a reddleman was an epoch in his life."
Page 68: "There was a certain obscurity in Eustacia's beauty, and Venn's eye was not trained. In her winter dress, as now, she was like the tiger beetle, which, when observed in dull situations, seems to be of the quietest neutral colour, but under a full illumination blazes with dazzling splendour."
Page 98: She [Eustacia] had come out to see a man who might possibly have the power to deliver her soul from a most deadly oppression. What was Wildeve? Interesting, but adequate. Perhaps she would see a sufficient hero to-night."
Page 103: "...but the age of a modern man is to be measured by the intensity of his history."
Page 103: "Hence people who began by beholding him [Clym] ended by persuing him."
- Liz Elliott
The Return of the Native
ReplyDeletePage 107: "She [Eustacia] had loved him partly because he was exceptional in this scene, partly because she had determined to love him, chiefly because she was in desperate need of loving somebody after wearying of Wildeve."
Page 121: "Then Mrs. Yeobright saw a little figure wending its way between the scratching furze-bushes and diminishing far up the valley--a pale blue spot in a vast field of neutral brown, solitary and undefended except by the power of her own hope."
Page 132: "Take all the varying hates felt by Eustacia Vye towards the heath, and translate them into loves, and you have the heart of Clym."
Well, opposites attract I suppose. I love how they have have such different views about the heath (I am DEFINITELY Team Eustacia here). I think it adds a little something. I read this line about five times and knew that I had to highlight it to add to the arresting quotations.
Page 149: "My Eustacia!"
"Clym, dearest!"
♥ ♥ ♥ so cute ♥ ♥ ♥
Page 150: "Nothing can ensure the continuance of love. It will evaporate like a spirit, and so I feel full of fears."
I could be wrong, but from this quotation I am getting the impression that Eustacia is scared to be happy. She doesn't seem to trust love very much.
Page 153: "I see your face in every scene of my dreams, and hear your voice in every sound. I wish I did not. It is too much what I feel. They say such love never lasts. But it must!"
I just loved when Clym said this to Eustacia! :)
- Liz Elliott
The Return of the Native
ReplyDeletePage 154: "Three antagonistic growths had to be kept alive: his [Clym] mother's trust in him, his plan for becoming a teacher, and Eustacia's happiness."
Page 155: "Mother," said Clym, "whatever you do, you will always be dear to me-that you know. But one thing I have a right to say, which is, that at my age I am old enough to know what is best for me."
Momma's boy? ;) I think that this quotation is so cute and sensitive and I think it is so applicable to so many lives and relatable to many people. Mothers never want to see their children grow up, and it's hard for most mothers to accept the fact that another woman (a wife) will be taking her place when it comes to taking care of her son. Mothers need to give their children breathing room as they grow up. The hovering eventually hast to stop to the child can know right and wrong for themself. Love this.
Page 159: "Eustacia was now no longer the goddess but the woman to him [Clym], a being to fight for, support, help, be maligned for."
Page 163: "There are worse women in the world than Eustacia Vye."
"There are too many better; that's the agony of it."
LOVE THIS. Mom's always want the best for their sons, and I think it was so smooth of Mrs. Yeobright to say what she said about Eustacia. Touche Mrs. Y, touche.
Page 165: "The old longing for Eustacia had reappeared in his soul: and it was mainly because he had discovered that it was another man's intention to possess her."
Jealousyyyyyyyy. I felt bad for Wildeve here. I mean, hearing that your ex-love is marrying someone soon, that must be rough. Oh well, Wildeve's loss!
- Liz Elliott
The sea changed, the fields changed, the rivers, the villages, and the people changed, yet Egdon remained. Book 1, Chapter 1, pg. 3
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite quotes of all time.. its simplicity to me is beautiful
-Dakota Gagliardi
"Persons with any weight of character carry, like planets, their atmospheres along with them in their orbits; and the matron who entered now upon the scene could, and usually did, bring her own tone into the company." (p. 33) I felt that this quote is also true to life because people's presence affect the mood of their atmospere.
ReplyDelete-Matt Gaudio
Some quotations that caught my eye from a "Moon for the Misbegotten"
ReplyDeleteEvidence that Jim really did love Josie;
Tyrone: You better watch your step. It might work - and then think of how disgusted you would feel, with me lying beside you, probably snoring, as you watched the dawn come. You don't know -
Tyrone: "Whore, who said you where a whore? But I warned you, didn't I, if you kept on - Why did you have to act like one, asking me to come to bed? That wasn't what I cam here for. And you promised tonight would be different. Why the hell did you promise that, if all you wanted was what all the others want, if that's all love means to you?
It's quotations like these that make me think things could have been different between Josie and Jim, if Josie had not had other intentions that night. Not that is was her fault, but I know things would have worked out for the better if it wasn't for Hogans lie, Josie and Jim could have ended up together.
Dakota: I loved that exact same quotation that you wrote!
ReplyDeleteTHE RETURN OF THE NATIVE
Page 180: Wildeve forgot the loss of the money at the sight of his lost love, whose preciousness in his eyes was increasing in geometrical progression with each new incident that reminded him of their hopeless division."
I thought that this quotation was nice because it showed that Wildeve still cared for his lost love, Eustacia.
Page 186: "It is the instinct of everyone to look after their own."
Mrs. Yeobright was so right when she said this. Parents will do anything for their children, and she was willing to do whatever it took for her son and his wife to accept her, which I thought was rather noble.
Page 199: "Yet why the sight of him should have instigated that sudden rush of blood she could not tell."
Again, the love between Eustacia and Wildeve is still present, even when it comes to having to sign your ex's wedding register as a witness!
Page 216: "You rightly belonged to me, you know; and I had no idea of losing you." [Wildeve to Eustacia]
Page 216: "But I do desire unreasonably much in wanting what is called life - music, poetry, passion, war..
Page 217: "I married him because I loved him, but I won't say that I didn't love him partly because I thought I saw a promise of that life in him."
Eustacia had dreams bigger than what she experienced in life, and with the help of Clym, she thought for sure that all of those dreams would become realities. In my opinion, this is an incredibly sad quotation. Poor Eustacia.
Page 219: "Can there be beautiful bodies without hearts inside?"
ABSOLUTELY. I love this. It definitely shows the one of the unfortunate realities of life.
- Liz Elliott