Quotation of the Week 9/09

I'm still reading Wuthering Heights. Here is another quotation from it that caught my eye (with the recent dream discussion in mind).

I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they've gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my mind.

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, Ch. 9
(the first Catherine speaking)

Nature's Magic Mirror

.

I brought my camera with me on a walk the other day.

I love the way the trees are reflected in the water.

In the photo below it is almost hard to tell

which branches belong to which world...

Libraries and secret passages

Borrowing another writing prompt from the One-Minute-Writer:

Write about a childhood memory related to reading.
I used to borrow lots of books from the library. Enid Blyton was among my favourites (for a period). I still love libraries, and almost any story that has a secret passage in it... (the Blyton kids always seemed to find one of those).

Cathedral of the Sea

I have finally finished Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones, which I have been reading "by ear" - a box of 19 CD's (in Swedish), borrowed from the library. It took me six weeks to get through them. I found the book historically informative: it is an epic novel set in 14th century Barcelona and includes topics like the building of a cathedral, slavery, serfdom, anti-Semitism, the Spanish Inquisition, prostitution, the growth of sea trade and insurance companies, and more. But somehow I found it hard to really connect to the characters. It is a "heavy" story, not the most easily digested kind. The main character is Arnau Estanyol, son of a fugitive serf, seeking freedom in Barcelona. How to define freedom is a recurrent theme.

Quotation of the Week 8/09

A few days ago, I started rereading Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I bought my copy in 1983, not sure if I've reread it since then. Last night, n.b. after I had written yesterday's post with the "magic mirror" haiku poem here, I came to the following passage in chapter 7. It's the servant Nelly speaking to the young boy Heathcliff, in front of a mirror:

Oh, Heathcliff, you are showing a poor spirit! Come to the glass, and I'll let you see what you should wish. Do you mark those two lines between your eyes, and those thick brows, that instead of rising arched, sink in the middle, and that couple of black fiends, so deeply buried, who never open their windows boldly, but lurk glinting under them, like devil's spies? Wish and learn to smooth away the surly wrinkles, to raise your lids frankly, and change the fiends to confident, innocent angels, suspecting and doubting nothing, and always seeing friends where they are not sure of foes --

Magic Mirror

Today's writing prompt from The One-Minute Writer:

"Imagine you have a magic mirror.
What does it reveal about anyone who looks in it?"

My suggestion:

Magic mirror shows
not your faults and failures but
possibilities.

(Remember it next time you look in the bathroom mirror!)

Valentine's Day

It's really not fair to let Valentine's Day fall on a Saturday, when no post is delivered! Here's a special Valentine's quote for anyone else who didn't get a card today:

(Picture from Harry Potter Wiki)

'Happy Valentine's Day!' Lockhart shouted. 'And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all - and it doesn't end here!'

Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the Entrance Hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

'My friendly, card-carrying cupids!' beamed Lockhart.

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, ch 13.