Rebecca Moll's Blog, page 21
August 24, 2017
Lines Worth Repeating
From A Year by the Sea by Joan Anderson, Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman:
"When a pupil is ready, the teacher appears, so the saying goes."
"I think it was Picasso who said he spent the first half of his life becoming an adult and the last half learning to be a child."
"When a pupil is ready, the teacher appears, so the saying goes."
"I think it was Picasso who said he spent the first half of his life becoming an adult and the last half learning to be a child."
August 18, 2017
Thoughts mid-way through "A Year by the Sea" by Joan Anderson
The reviews intrigue me. Harsh and brutally honest comments from readers, are much like the book, brutally honest. Soul searching is rarely a crowd pleaser. I know a few women who have walked this path, much to the hateful scorn and condemnation of others. Yet, the language, smooth and beautiful, raw and natural, much like it's New England seascape setting, draws me in, makes me pause, and question. Such drastic actions of abandonment, the unrooting of obligation and commitment, how important is self, spirit, love, peace, and understanding? With more than 150 pages to go, I will try to walk in this woman's shoes...continue to seek answers...
August 11, 2017
Me and Earl and the dying girl, by Jesse Andrews, a Review by Rebecca Moll
I will say only two things about this book:
be prepared to laugh
be prepared to cry
oh, and a third:
I could never watch the movie, even though I finished the book and went straight to the trailer
and, wt?, a fourth:
I wasn't going to write a review, but, famous last words, as if, there will ever be, last words, or anything, famous, Rebecca Moll
5th, I swear like the Surly Syrian, probably a bad idea as my kids may read this, $#@&+, my very, very, very, very last comment,
I LOVED THIS STORY
be prepared to laugh
be prepared to cry
oh, and a third:
I could never watch the movie, even though I finished the book and went straight to the trailer
and, wt?, a fourth:
I wasn't going to write a review, but, famous last words, as if, there will ever be, last words, or anything, famous, Rebecca Moll
5th, I swear like the Surly Syrian, probably a bad idea as my kids may read this, $#@&+, my very, very, very, very last comment,
I LOVED THIS STORY
August 7, 2017
Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout, A book review by Rebecca Moll
I am certain, Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout, will abide with me for some time. This story holds the weight of your thoughts, the color of your emotions and refuses to go easily.
The main character, Tyler, a minister, speaks of The Feeling, his yearning for the presence of God, the feeling of peace, the beauty of grace. In all things, Tyler is a "giver." He is full of action, full of the best of intentions, always giving. It is the "receiving" that he finds difficult. Even after the tragic loss of his wife, his mourning deep and wide, his small children distant and lost, he finds it hard to accept the outstretched hands of help.
I find it interesting that Tyler finds The Feeling in the most unlikely of all places, only after all of his means and methods of doing are exhausted, only after he finds himself at a total loss, at the total mercy of others. Tyler finds The feeling, peace and grace, in just being, in letting go, for it is then, that he is able to receive love, peace, grace. And it is in receiving that the Lord abides with him.
I will need some time to think about this idea, so rooted in doing am I. If the ends justifies the means, or even if it doesn't, what does it say about the end if there is no means? If there is no doing? Can we find love, peace, and grace without doing? Maybe the answer lies inside. Maybe, it lies with me, begins with me? Maybe it is already there and Abides with Me?
The main character, Tyler, a minister, speaks of The Feeling, his yearning for the presence of God, the feeling of peace, the beauty of grace. In all things, Tyler is a "giver." He is full of action, full of the best of intentions, always giving. It is the "receiving" that he finds difficult. Even after the tragic loss of his wife, his mourning deep and wide, his small children distant and lost, he finds it hard to accept the outstretched hands of help.
I find it interesting that Tyler finds The Feeling in the most unlikely of all places, only after all of his means and methods of doing are exhausted, only after he finds himself at a total loss, at the total mercy of others. Tyler finds The feeling, peace and grace, in just being, in letting go, for it is then, that he is able to receive love, peace, grace. And it is in receiving that the Lord abides with him.
I will need some time to think about this idea, so rooted in doing am I. If the ends justifies the means, or even if it doesn't, what does it say about the end if there is no means? If there is no doing? Can we find love, peace, and grace without doing? Maybe the answer lies inside. Maybe, it lies with me, begins with me? Maybe it is already there and Abides with Me?
August 1, 2017
To risk-taking and to Love
I think, it is the risk-taking in writing fiction that makes the words, "The End" so sweet.
Having just written the final words of my second full-length, fictional novel, I feel a sense of wonder at how things came together, just like when faced with a difficult life-decision, how taking a risk can lead to wondrous, new directions. It is from that position of hind-sight, having climbed the stairway, and now, looking out upon the open vista, that I feel blessed.
How wondrous are His works.
I think, I am going to miss these characters. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Many more months to go. Much editing to do. It is my hope, that this time next year, I will hit the "save" button for the final time and go live on the Amazon Book Store, once again.
That is, ultimately, the biggest risk of all, sharing your story.
To getting old and still taking risks, to creating characters and telling stories, to families that dare to lead un-perfect lives, to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, but most of all, to Love.
Whatever your faith is or is not, Love is the currency of life.
"...but the greatest of these, is Love." 1 Corinthians 13:13
Having just written the final words of my second full-length, fictional novel, I feel a sense of wonder at how things came together, just like when faced with a difficult life-decision, how taking a risk can lead to wondrous, new directions. It is from that position of hind-sight, having climbed the stairway, and now, looking out upon the open vista, that I feel blessed.
How wondrous are His works.
I think, I am going to miss these characters. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Many more months to go. Much editing to do. It is my hope, that this time next year, I will hit the "save" button for the final time and go live on the Amazon Book Store, once again.
That is, ultimately, the biggest risk of all, sharing your story.
To getting old and still taking risks, to creating characters and telling stories, to families that dare to lead un-perfect lives, to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, but most of all, to Love.
Whatever your faith is or is not, Love is the currency of life.
"...but the greatest of these, is Love." 1 Corinthians 13:13
July 17, 2017
Famous 1st Lines:
"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."
J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)
July 1, 2017
My Book Review: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (Goodreads Author), Henning Koch (Goodreads Author) (Translator)
Not everyone is an open book. Not everyone goes around smiling all the time, like some complete idiot. Certainly, not Ove. But just like books, some of the most complicated people are the most endearing, once you get through the first 300 pages or so...the first 300 layers of gruff.
And this story, just like Ove, is worth all 337 pages. Long before the end, I was smiling, laughing, and once or twice I had to blink back a few tears. It's not like I'm some soppy, overly emotional idiot...
If you like heart warming stories, where it's the people who make life worth living and, sometimes, worth dying, what is done and not what is said that communicates, ties, and binds in love, and when the least likely person to change, not only changes themselves for the better, but others too, then get yourself a copy of, A Man Called Ove. It might cost you a few kronor, "thieves," "bandits," but as with most things in life, everything comes at a price, even A Man Called Ove, whom I guarantee, in the end, when it's all done and not said, you'll call "priceless."
Rebecca Moll
And this story, just like Ove, is worth all 337 pages. Long before the end, I was smiling, laughing, and once or twice I had to blink back a few tears. It's not like I'm some soppy, overly emotional idiot...
If you like heart warming stories, where it's the people who make life worth living and, sometimes, worth dying, what is done and not what is said that communicates, ties, and binds in love, and when the least likely person to change, not only changes themselves for the better, but others too, then get yourself a copy of, A Man Called Ove. It might cost you a few kronor, "thieves," "bandits," but as with most things in life, everything comes at a price, even A Man Called Ove, whom I guarantee, in the end, when it's all done and not said, you'll call "priceless."
Rebecca Moll
June 10, 2017
All things Books...
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More Questions,than Answers
I find it interesting, that as I open to the first pages of Team of Rivals (Abraham Lincoln), one of the first quotations is by Leo Tolstoy, the author with whom, I just spent over almost a year with every Saturday morning (War & Peace, Napoleon Bonaparte)....
Strange connections, interesting prophesies, legendary men...
What will they say a hundred years from now?
Who will they write about?
Who will they read about?
Strange connections, interesting prophesies, legendary men...
What will they say a hundred years from now?
Who will they write about?
Who will they read about?
June 9, 2017
Same time, last year... Same place...
This time last year I was doing much the same as I am today, waiting for Julia to finish her last exam and another year at Marian, sitting Starbucks, lost in the clouds of writing a book. As Julia closed out her 1st year at Marian, this time last year, I wrote the last chapter of The Beauty of Digging Deep, and the words, The End.
Yet, far from the end, it was just the beginning. Today, I had hoped to write the same two last words on my novel-in-progress, but, alas, it seems, I have much still to say. The story has more to tell, the tale is just beginning...
So, as I ponder the quandary of time and place, look back and look forward, I can say it has been a great year.
To sweet endings and fresh beginnings, God bless our boys and girls, as they meet their milestones. May you always live, love, and be happy. 😄
Yet, far from the end, it was just the beginning. Today, I had hoped to write the same two last words on my novel-in-progress, but, alas, it seems, I have much still to say. The story has more to tell, the tale is just beginning...
So, as I ponder the quandary of time and place, look back and look forward, I can say it has been a great year.
To sweet endings and fresh beginnings, God bless our boys and girls, as they meet their milestones. May you always live, love, and be happy. 😄
