Note: This is an old post from my Multiply site last September 21, 2006.
I will write this journal for the sake of my love for literature. My repertoire may not be as wide and diverse as some of the literature fanatics out there. Hell, my writing did not even improve despite of the various literary perspectives I’ve touched. But then, who the f*ck cares? If you are passionate on something, the reasons are not the things that would make you love doing it – you just love doing it.
For the past five to six years, I have been getting a dose of the escapist, literary worlds before I fall asleep in my cozy bed. From the chivalrous swordfights of the knights to Sandman’s mysterious world. From Lualhati Bautista’s simple illustration of the ‘70s-‘80s Filipino life to the depressing plebeian life of Tom Joad. From the intense suspense of Stephen King’s horror stories to the philosophical viewpoint of Jostein Gaarder’s novels. From the whimsical world of Harry Potter to the passionate romance in Like Water for Chocolate. These pieces have amazed me, made me depressed, sensuously tickled my imagination, made me think otherwise, opened my eyes to the world of Sandman as soon as possible, gave me insomnia, developed my angst, and made me feel the romance.
Yes, those were the golden years of my reading. Actually, I think I have been born a bookworm. I have been addicted to books by the age of three. It did not matter if I could comprehend those – all that matters then was I got indulged in looking at the wonderful illustrations. Again, it was passion that mattered.
Life is full of ironies. I am talking of my passion for literature but the truth is, I have not read any literary piece in the past two months. Did it die? Perhaps. It will come back; I am sure. It’s just that I don’t want to spend too much dough on my wants.
But if I am not willing to shed a thing for it, then I guess my love for literature had indeed died. I have replaced that invaluable intangible for the tangible called money. Sigh!
This is to commemorate those years of escapist fun. Here are the remarkable quotations that I got from my repertoire. It may seem so limited because of these but do not get me wrong – I am just lame in remembering the quotable quotes. But still, these have touched me and in some ways are related to my present condition. (Why the hell would I put these in here without my subconscious mind guiding me to do so?)
I will write this journal for the sake of my love for literature. My repertoire may not be as wide and diverse as some of the literature fanatics out there. Hell, my writing did not even improve despite of the various literary perspectives I’ve touched. But then, who the f*ck cares? If you are passionate on something, the reasons are not the things that would make you love doing it – you just love doing it.
For the past five to six years, I have been getting a dose of the escapist, literary worlds before I fall asleep in my cozy bed. From the chivalrous swordfights of the knights to Sandman’s mysterious world. From Lualhati Bautista’s simple illustration of the ‘70s-‘80s Filipino life to the depressing plebeian life of Tom Joad. From the intense suspense of Stephen King’s horror stories to the philosophical viewpoint of Jostein Gaarder’s novels. From the whimsical world of Harry Potter to the passionate romance in Like Water for Chocolate. These pieces have amazed me, made me depressed, sensuously tickled my imagination, made me think otherwise, opened my eyes to the world of Sandman as soon as possible, gave me insomnia, developed my angst, and made me feel the romance.
Yes, those were the golden years of my reading. Actually, I think I have been born a bookworm. I have been addicted to books by the age of three. It did not matter if I could comprehend those – all that matters then was I got indulged in looking at the wonderful illustrations. Again, it was passion that mattered.
Life is full of ironies. I am talking of my passion for literature but the truth is, I have not read any literary piece in the past two months. Did it die? Perhaps. It will come back; I am sure. It’s just that I don’t want to spend too much dough on my wants.
But if I am not willing to shed a thing for it, then I guess my love for literature had indeed died. I have replaced that invaluable intangible for the tangible called money. Sigh!
This is to commemorate those years of escapist fun. Here are the remarkable quotations that I got from my repertoire. It may seem so limited because of these but do not get me wrong – I am just lame in remembering the quotable quotes. But still, these have touched me and in some ways are related to my present condition. (Why the hell would I put these in here without my subconscious mind guiding me to do so?)
“The one who sees through destiny must also live through it.” -from the last line of ‘The Joker Game’ of Jostein Gaarder’s Solitaire Mystery
“Because there’s no such thing as a one-sided coin. Because there are to sides to every sky.” -Destruction talking to Dream in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Book 7: Brief Lives
Augustus Caesar: Humanity. They follow leaders – queens or kings, chiefs or emperors. We tell them what to do, and they do it. We know no more than they, but still, they follow us blindly, as people lost in the catacombs would follow a child carrying a flaming torch.
Lycius: And what do you follow then, you leaders – to make us follow you, and obey you?
Augustus Caesar: We follow our dreams.
-taken from ‘August’ of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Book 6: Fables and Reflections
“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around – nobody big, I mean – except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be. I know it’s crazy.” -Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
Old Spencer: Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.
Holden: Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it.
Holden (to himself): Game, my ass. Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it’s a game, all right – I’ll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren’t any hot shots, then what’s a game about it? Nothing. No game.
-taken from J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
“I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. Girls. Jesus Christ. They can drive you crazy. They really can.” -Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye
Jem: A lady? After all those things she said about you, a lady?
Atticus: She was. She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe…son, I told you that if you hadn’t lost your head I’d have made you go read to her. I wanted to see you something about her – I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.
-taken from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird
“Well I’m gonna be a new kind of clown. I’m gonna stand in the middle of the ring and laugh at the folks.” -Dill, responding to Jem who said that clowns are sad because people laugh at them; taken from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird
“The things I do for love.” -Jaime Lannister to Cersei Lannister upon doing something crazy for her sake; taken from George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones
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