Quotes that struck me:
- End of chapter 12: "The people in flight from the terror behind––strange things happen to them, some bitterly cruel and some so beautiful that the faith is refired forever." Beautifully put.
- Chapter 14: "We could love the tractor then as we loved this land when it was ours. But this tractor does two things––it turns the land and turns us off the land. There is little difference between this tractor and a tank. The people are driven, intimidated, hurt by both. We must think about this." Later in Chapter 14: "For the quality of owning freezes you forever into 'I,' and cuts you off forever from the 'we.'"
- Chapter 26: "I'm learning one good thing. Learnin' it all the time, ever' day. If you're in trouble or hurt or need––go to the poor people. They're the only ones that'll help––the only ones."
This book has made me think more than I have time for! It is pack full of thought-provoking topics that are very relevant still today. I'm looking forward to tea at the palace (wow, we're a sophisticated bunch!).
2 comments:
I know, Jade! I could burn through a whole pencil underlining all of the incredible lines in this book and jotting down notes. You picked some of the great ones. Don't you just want to underline the big, meaningful lines he sticks in there but also those mundane details, like in the first chapter the way the waitress reaches behind her to turn off the radio without even looking. I want to try to describe people in my life the way he describes his characters.
Both of you, wonderful points! I hadn't read your notes until now, Jade because I wanted to read the book before I read your thoughts on it, but you directly quoted that passage I was trying to recall at tea, about faith. It is powerful. And so right, Theresa, about the exquisite (but not overdone) precision in his description of the everyday.
*Hmmm, maybe this is going to appear twice now, but I think I got an error, so trying again...
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