Writing About Books (list of quotes) collected by Leanne Dyck

I started reviewing books for this blog in 2012. Recently, I re-read my notes. To celebrate this blog's ninth anniversary, I compiled this list of quotes.

So all together now, let's sing the praises of reading--types the dyslexic. 

photo by ldyck

Writing about Books

'[B]ooks are the nation's most precious possession.' 
Independent People, Halldor Laxness

'[W]hen you handle books all day long every new one is a friend and a temptation.'
The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova

'A book lives in every person who reads it.' 
Sweep, Jonathan Auxier

'[S]he would not be without guidance, she would not be without love, without faith; she had a good book with her.' 
Cider House Rules, John Irving

'[H]e had made Nan read it a second time. That is the sign that you really love a book.'
Sweep, Jonathan Auxier

'He had found her reading a book, which was a peculiar occupation for a woman who was not a nun.' 
The Pillar of the Earth, Ken Follett

'[P]ublishing a book is like scattering ashes from an urn.'
Sweep, Jonathan Auxier

'She chirps the last bit as if that were all to say about a book:  It's good or it's bad. I like it or I didn't. No discussion of the writing, the themes, the nuances, the structure. Just good or bad. Like a hot dog.' 
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

More...

This morning I took my dog for a walk and inspiration struck. I hope you enjoy the result.

A Poem for November

November did try,

she filled her skies with blue

and let the sun shine

Still people shared poems

about how dull she is

But July told November,

"People need moody days too."

Next Sunday evening...

Book review:  Akin by Emma Donoghue

Maybe I could summarize this novel like this...

"What did you do during the war, Mom?"
"What did you do to end poverty, Son?"

Please click the link to read my review next week.

Book Review Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

A friend says, “I just finished reading Gone Girl. Have you read it? You have to read it. I know you'll like it.”

I've known this friend for many years and she knows me well. And so I buy a copy.

I don't read the back cover blurb. I just flip the book open and begin to read and immediately I'm thrown into a mystery. The narrator has little rhyme to his life? He usually wakes on a whim. Yet, today he has woken precisely at 6 AM.

Why? What kind of a career can afford him that type of leeway?

Then I read page 5: 'I used to be a writer.'

The narrator is a once-upon-writer, his wife (Amy) is a writer and so are is in-laws. In fact, Amy's parents have created a children's series inspired by their daughter. No, more then inspired by. The fictional Amy seems to be a new and improved version of the real Amy.

As Amy writes: 'I can't fail to notice that whenever I screw something up, Amy does it right.' (P. 36)

My friend knows of my passion to become a writer. I pause to wonder if this overabundance of writers is the reason my friend thought I would enjoy this book.

But it's more then that...

Gone Girl is about a relationship. The couple is young and attractive. The ingredients for a romance and yet it is a thriller.

'Isn't that what every marriage is, anyway? Just a lengthy game of he-said, she-said?' (p. 544)

I love stories that throw you for a loop like that. You wiggle your way into the comfortable pages. Everything is so familiar. You feel so at home. And then wham bam you're sent reeling. Stephen King writes this type of story very well and so does Gillian Flynn.

I admire other aspect of Ms. Flynn's writing as well...

In chapter one the narrator wishes that he could be in his wife's head. Then in chapter two he is. He's reading her diary, in fact. How much more in her head can he get?

Ms. Flynn continues to play with her main characters in this manner. For example, Amy disappears in one chapter and Nick reappears in the next.

What is the overriding theme...?

A promising happy-ever-after marriage breaks down set against the US economy. An economy that was so promising but that is slowly sliding into bankruptcy—people are losing their jobs, grandiose malls echo from abandonment.

Everything is disappearing in this book: Amy, Nick's future, Nick's dad, Amy's parents' money...

Favourite quote...

'She chirps the last bit as if that were all to say about a book: It's good or it's bad. I like it or I didn't. No discussion of the writing, the themes, the nuances, the structure, Just good or bad. Like a hot dog.' (p. 377)

Back cover blurb:  On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and plans are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears. As the police begin to investigate, the town golden boy parades a series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer?

More...

YouTube interview with author, Gillian Flynn 

Next Monday...

Writers, do you kill your darlings?

Author journey...

I cared for children in a Day Care setting for approximately fourteen years...