Monday, October 5, 2009

Turn the Phrases on Stun(ning)

I love well-crafted sentences. I'm one of those people who underlines sentences in books and when I read a used book that has underlined phrases in it I feel like I'm getting a little peek into the previous owner's soul. It's like each sentence that is underlined is a piece of someone else's poetry. That is why I have decided to dedicate this post to some of the emphasized expressions in a few of my books, maybe taking these out of context makes them less poignant, but I think that these sentences can stand on their own:

From A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

"Poor people have a great passion for huge quantities of things."

"Mr. Tomony watched him drive away as though the cab were the last link in a life that he had found good."

"She knew of all pitiful human weaknesses and of many cruel strengths. Yet she could not read or write."

"I, myself, even in this day and at my age, have great need of recalling the miraculous lives of the Saints and the great miracles that have come to pass on earth. Only by having these things in my mind can I live beyond what I have to live for."

"Johnny had a hankering after immortality which made him a useless dreamer."

" 'Beautiful legs, then, is the secret of being a mistress,' concluded Francie. She looked down at her own long thin legs. 'I'll never make it, I guess.' Sighing, she resigned herself to a sinless life."

"We're too much alike to understand each other because we don't even understand our own selves."

"In his firm schedule of life, there was no heading labeled 'Loneliness.' "

"Because there is only once that you love that way."

"Well, a person can cry only so long. Then he has to do something else with his time."

"After the war, the city was going to tear down the tenements and the ugly school where a woman principal used to whip little boys, and build a model housing project on the site; a place of living where sunlight and air were to be trapped, measured and weighed, and doled out so much per resident."

From The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

"It might have been that notion, or just chance, or its more flamboyant relative, destiny..."

"...few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart."

"A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept."

"He had a good understanding of history and knew that the future could be read much more clearly in the streets, factories, and barracks than in the morning press."

From Not Quite What I was Planning Six-Word memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure Ed. by Smith Magazine

"The psychic said I'd be richer." -Elizabeth Bernstein

"Danced in Fields of Infinite Possibilities." -Deepak Chopra

"I was born some assembly required." -Eric Jordan

"And he nerded as never before." -Jon Thysell

"Cheese is the essence of life." -Mary Lynch

"Straight jacket on the gentle cycle." -Stewart Rudy

Those last set of quotes are a little different because the book is made up of small phrases, but they are expressive none-the-less. If there are any books that have stunning wording that has caught your attention please tell me about it in the comments, I'm always on the lookout for something good to read.

6 comments:

Rachel and Jacob said...

The Magicians nephew
"Grown-ups are always thinking of uninteresting explanations."

Sondra said...

If I had my books here...wait you have them there! I'm always reluctant to underline in books (though I do anyway) because I don't want to influence the next reader's perceptions.

Bethany said...

"you know you love me" hahaha its not profound but its fun reading! Have you read the emeralds and espionage series?

Elspeth said...

Ummm, yes, I think I read them before you...

Holly said...

I loved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, it reminded me of Newsies. I highlight things in my books too! Elspeth we need to create a book club together.

Heres one from Catcher in the Rye,
"What really knocks me out is a book, when you're all done reading it, you wished the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." - Holden

And another one cause I just read it for the 3rd time haha,
"I'm always saying "Glad to've met you" to somebody I'm not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though." - Holden

And from Perks of Being a Wallflower,
“I would give someone a record so they could love the record, not so they would always know that I gave it to them.” - Charlie

These ring true!

Sondra said...

From "The Hunger Games": That was the first time I ever saw him smile. It transformed him from someone menacing to someone you wished you knew.