Jo > Books: gorgeous-prose (79) ×

“I had a moment of looking at it, like Amona might have, seeing it for the first time and thinking how lovely it was, too. But then I retreated back into myself and could see only its faults.”

“I knew I’d never have another moment like this. Just a single place in time where everything had come together to breathe in harmony. Time slowed and I had gathered all her restless strands in my hands; where I had come from, where I was and where I was going was one long thread as I emerged to make my way into the world.”

“The only living example of a Romeo in the modern world.”

“Not being able to speak Bengali makes me feel like I’m trying to cross a bridge but can only get so far, because to reach the other side it’s not just the words you need to understand, but also the tones and colours; the way of thinking and seeing the world that are all locked inside the languages.”

“I think these stories about where you come from and the history of your own family help you to see where you stand in the world.”

~~~

“I nod at him and look down, down, down to the crater below, swirling with dust.
‘What is that?’ I ask him.
‘History…takes time to settle.”

“I exhale swirling colors that streak across the clouds like rainbows on soapy water. I reach upward with my free hand. The evening sunlight touches my skin like golden water and I feel safe- almost like heaven is falling from the sky to protect me. It should be confusing but somehow it all makes sense to me. It makes sense the way a dream makes sense. The only difference is, I’m awake.”

“Lately, I’ve been feeling like the wires in my brain have been switched around- disconnected from where they belong. It makes everything too sharp – makes my skin tingle like little shocks made of glitter. Without the medicine, they are growing back to where they belong. Already, my dreams are coming back- little by little.”

“When I was little, they encouraged me to use my imagination. They bought me posters of unicorns and fairies. Everything I had, from my little girl makeup to my glittery pink sneakers, was bathed in make-believe and came from a place where every girl could be a princess. I guess I never knew I was supposed to stop believing.”

“The reason I’m not on the e-mail list is because I thought it’d be cooler to write letters to somebody, since I can write e-mails to anybody.”

“Since reading this book, everyone I pass on the street seems full of stories and dreams and a secret sadness.” (On “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by the by)

“It seems like there are so many homesick people in the world. It seems like so many of us live far away from where we were born.”

“They were all surprised that we are best friends but we haven’t ever met. Ms. Beldsoe said that’s what happens when you find a ‘kindred spirit’.”

“Ice crystals glittered like jewels festooning his ribs, lining the walls of his ripped-open stomach; his lungs looked like two enormous multi-faceted diamonds; his frozen viscera shone as brightly as wet marble. It was terrible. And it was beautiful.”

“Listen, I’m not really supposed to be this far from home. I just happened to be out hiking when I saw your ship come down.”
“Out hiking?” Deryn said. “In all this barking snow? At night?”
“Yes. I often hike on the glacier at night.”
“With medicine?”

“Taking his vast and circular lantern, the moon, Night brushed aside a constellation of stars and came closer, curious to discover why no bell klong.”

“Moonlight lay on Andrej like a fairy’s suit of armour.”

“We are wildcat people, Andrej. You will never have a doormat, but the earth and sky belong to you.”

“Sometimes, upon waking, the residual dream can be more appealing than reality, and one is reluctant to give it up.”

“I just felt the road keeping on in front of me and I followed it.”


“I’m like a river without a name. Flowing through life because that’s what I do without knowing where I’ve come from and where I’m going. There’s beasts that have made a good home in me, too.”

“You can’t roll with a beast that has already survived a million years and live to tell the story.”

“When you stand and look out at the river, you wouldn’t know they were there. The crocs, that is…. But once you know there are crocs in there- plenty of the beasts- it changes the way you look at it. The water is somehow deeper, menacing. Alive and dangerous. It’s another world with power and intrigue, disguise and desperation. And in some places, it’s war.”

“In the triptych of mirrors was the image of him standing there, again and again, into infinity, reaching out forlornly into another world, a world in which Mam had gone and the living could not follow.”

“He wasn’t like the blacksmith in Mam’s old song. Unlike him, he’d never made any promises. He’d never written a letter. He was maybe a heart-breaking smooth operator… but he’d never pretended anything else.”

“They made me dizzy. But not as dizzy as you made me, Shell. I still remember.”

“He felt perfectly happy as he walked side by side with Ellie, their fingers occasionally brushing, electricity building between them. It was the first time in days, maybe the first time in all his life, that he didn’t want to change anything.”

“I hated romance novels, romantic comedies, and cheesy love poetry with equal passion- but I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could ignore them, I believed in happily ever after as much as anyone because Jane Austen, Prince Charming, and Hugh Grant promised me it could happen.
But maybe that particular delusion was universal.”

“I have discovered what fills the vacuum left by love. It is called necessity, and it will not be denied.”