Books to Remember

Lately, I’ve been feeling cloud 9 as I read some of the books from our popular, contemporary, stellar and incredible writers, who dig deep within the reader’s soul their every words, stories and life.

Lemme’ share with you some excerpts from those books:

1.       Writing’s a lot like cooking. Sometimes the cake won’t rise, no matter what you do, and every now and again the cake tastes better than you could ever have dreamed it would.

 – A Study in Emerald, Neil Gaiman’s Fragile Things

·         This is outrageous because he magically aligned Sherlock Holmes’ character to HP Lovecraft.

Dear Pareng Neil,

Please sprinkle me with your wisdom and talent in creating such depiction and storyline. Promise, I’ll be as dumbfound as you. Just a wishful thinking, I know maybe 1/16 of it might happen. But atleast, and, if it’ll take place I’ll be the proudest.J

Yours truly,

Mareng Thina

2.      “Your turn in the chair next time,” said October. "

I know,” said November.  He was pale and thin-lipped. He helped October out of the wooden chair. “I like your stories. Mine are always too dark.” “I don’t think so,” said October. “It’s just that your nights are longer. And you aren’t as warm.”   

    

  “ Put it like that,” said November, “And I feel better. I supposed we can’t help who we are.”

“That’s the spirit,” said his brother. And they touched hands as they walked away from the fire’s orange embers, taking their stories with them back into the dark. 

 – October in the chair, Neil Gaiman’s Fragile Things

·         Wooh, ang galing mo Pareng Neil!:D November is coming and I’m excited to every story that’ll unfold on that month. J

3.      Yes, I decided, a man can truly change. The events of the past year have taught me much about myself, and a few universal truths. I learned for instance, that while wounds can be inflicted easily upon those we love, it’s often much more difficult to heal them. Yet, the process of healing those wounds provided the richest experience of my life, leading me to believe that while I’ve often overestimate what I could accomplish in a day, I had underestimated what I could do in a year. But most of all, I learned that
 it’s possible for 2 people to fall inlove all over again, even when there’s been a lifetime disappointment between them. I’m not sure what to think about the swan and what I saw that night, and I must admit that being romantic still doesn’t come easily. It’s a daily struggle to reinvent myself, and part of me wonders whether it always will be. But so what? I hold tight to the lessons that Noah taught me about love and keeping it alive, and even if I never become a true romantic like Noah, it doesn’t mean that I’m ever going to stop trying.

– Wilson Lewis, Epilogue of Nicholas Sparks’ The Wedding

·         Upon reading this, I thought I’m good enough to grasp the author’s ending. But, am quite successful since I got a hint of the future sequences. The twist is excellent, passionate and memorable . . . smooth, sensitive writing . . . Definitely a novel that can hold its own. J

4.      A man sits alone in a cave.  His hair is long. His beard reaches his knees. He holds his chin the cup of his hands. He closes his eyes.                                                                                                                          He is listening to something. Voices. Endless voices. They rise from a pool in the corner of the cave. They are the voices of people on Earth. They want one thing only.                                                                                            Time.

- Mitch Albom’s The Time Keeper

·         Wonderful Analogy, yes? J Every one is engrossed once a theme of a story is about time. What more, if the tale is about the time itself? Mitch Albom will flutter you to the space of time, sometimes will return you to your senses, and then will cycle you once more on the marvel and mystery of time. His novel simply tells the oxymoron of loving and letting go your time.

5.     His words – and Sarah’s words—drift up to the faraway cave, and the lonesome, bearded man sitting inside it. This man is Father Time.

You might think him a myth, a cartoon from a New Year’s card—ancient, haggard, clutching an hourglass, older than any one on the planet.

But Father Time is real.

And, in truth, he cannot age. Beneath the unruly beard and cascading hair—signs of life, not death—his body is lean, his skin unwrinkled, immune to the very thing he lords over.

Once, before he angered God, he was just another man,

fated to die when his days were done.

Banished to this cave, he must listen to the world’s every pleas—for more minutes, more hours, more years, more time.

He has been an eternity.

He has given up hope. But a clock ticks for all us, silently, somewhere.

Soon Father Time will be free. To return to Earth.

And finish what he started.

- Mitch Albom’s The Time Keeper

·         I love the characters and tone of this excerpt. It captivates me and makes me want to finish the book in one sitting. There’s a mishmash of smooth, crisp, and strong emotions as Father Time will return to Earth. The storyline’s pace is agitating yet controlled. J

6.      Consider the word “time.”

We use so many phrases with it. Pass time. Waste time. Kill time. Lose time. In good time. About time. Take your time. Save time. Along time. Right on time. Out of time. Mind the time. Be on Time. Spare time. Keep time. Stall for time. There are as many expressions with “time” as there are minutes in a day. But once, there was no word for it at all. Because no one was counting. Then Dor began.                                                                                                                                       And everything changed.

- Mitch Albom’s The Time Keeper

·         Thank you Father Time for monitoring the importance of yourself—it attracts people to become dear to you. J I have my own version of using the word time, and that’s. Time is Now. The story’s meaning embraces the fact that TIME should be used wisely—not too rush and not too slow—use it the way it should be.  Two people will learn that and they signify all the people in the world.J

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