Libre Numero Dos ~ by Kelly

Hi Everyone!!

So here’s the thing…whether I like the book or not (at least for the first round of each genre) I am going to finish it. That said I didn’t really enjoy reading Roads to Santiago. Some of the descriptions were beautifully written, but it was entirely too much. Like sensory overload. One sentence Cees was in one little town and in the next sentence he was arriving in another little town. On the flip side of that he would then spend two pages describing a painting and the artist. Again – sensory overload.

So here’s what I did…I found you the BEST parts of the book and am quoting them below. About 1/2 the way through I decided the best this book would offer me was a few really great sentence and ideas. So during my own pilgrimage of Cees’ book this is what I found. J

“Spain is brutish, anarchic, egocentric, cruel. Spain is prepared to face disaster on a whim, she is chaotic, dreamy, irrational. Spain conquered the world and then did not know what to do with it” (pg 5).

“And make no mistake, you are never in a place that is nameless, in a region without a name, on a mountain without a name, in a town without a name – you always find yourself in some word invented by others – others never seen, long forgotten – before it was recorded in writing. We are always in words” (pg 17).

“The province is poor, the provincial capital is poor, and poverty does not shine, poverty is quiet, poverty does not discard the old in favour of the veneer of emblematic junk which, like a botched facelift, has messed up so much of what was old and authentic” (pg 22). **This is my favorite quote!**

“The paradox is perhaps that history has no purpose, but that we, simply because we exist, always think we do have a purpose and thereby we make history” (pg 111).

“There is an old Castilian saying: “Si Dios no fuse Dios, seria rey de las Espanas, y el de Francia su cocinero” – If God weren’t God, he would be king of Spain, and the king of France would be his cook” (pg 128).

“Sometimes the enclosure takes up a great deal of space in the cathedral….the arrangement somehow creates the impression that they have driven the common folk out of the church. If you want to see mass being celebrated you must find a place in front of the choir, because if you enter the church from the back and make your way to the alter, your view will be blocked by the trascoro, the decorated rear wall of the choir, a church within a church, from which the faithful are barred. The coro epitomizes the clergy as an institution, the wielders of power in their secure bastion, aloof: the owners of God” (pg 230).

“There are two ways of approaching a newsstand. One way is carefree: you don’t know what news the paper will bring. The other way is more involved: you know something has happened, you have heard the news, and now you want to read about it. Newspapers no longer ARE the news, but they remain the only confirmation: here it is, the news, black on white” (pg 300).

OK – that’s it! That’s the best of the best of the book. You’re welcome. J Haha.

Now…on to the next!

~ Kel

Don't Choose Sophie's Choice

I can't believe I actually finished this book.

As I mentioned in my mid-book review, I would have put the book down were it not for the fact that I knew Kelly and I were in it together...well, that sentiment did not change through the remainder of the book. Like Kelly, I was surprised to find that this was a must read and I was also completely disappointed with the ending.

The writing in Sophie's Choice was utterly frustrating. The author, William Styron, would narrate a section of the story in Stingo's voice and then randomly switch it to Sophie's voice. Next, he would be in the past referring to the future and then bounce into the future and look back on the past. These inconsistencies made it difficult to follow at times and were often unnecessary. There were also tangents that would tell a side story to expand on a character who we didn't even need to remember or know about later in the story. It was absolutely ridiculous.

And then there was Sophie's choice - the title of the book, the book jackets, and other people all referred to this horrific, yet moving event - but after reading the several paragraphs (read: not more than a page!) it took to divulge, I was left wondering if I had in fact just read the "choice"?! I had a sad moment (a second, really) but then laughed out loud over the fact that the choice was so...so...so NOT what I was expecting! Sure, it was traumatic for Sophie, but as a reader I felt completely unattached to that piece of the puzzle. What a disappointment.

All in all, I enjoyed some of the book, but was often annoyed and bored - feelings I do not want to have when reading. I'm glad to have made it through to the end (without skimming, might I add) and enjoyed talking about it with Kelly, but I hope the next one is better.

Modern Fiction down, on to Travel Writing!
Devon