Sunday, June 07, 2009

a death in the family

The first book I read from my list was A Death in the Family. The author, James Agee, didn't get to finish writing it because he died. So, the editors were left with a pretty much completed story, and then these sections that didn't fit anywhere chronologically.

So they split them in half, put them in italics, and stuck them at the end of the first two sections. Why not just leave them out? Because they're beautiful.

My new favorite quote comes from one of these italicized sections. It's about parents.

"When I am astonished or bewildered, it is they who make the weak ground firm beneath my soul."

Edward Cullen is beautiful and shiny, but not that beautiful.

2 comments:

  1. You're very lucky Kiki, very lucky.

    The book sounds interesting. I'm really interested to see what happens to this series of books I'm reading where the author also died. Another author is finishing the work based off of notes, but I wonder how things like that will be handled. Where the new author has no idea where to put something.

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  2. So, why is that your favorite new quote? Because it reminds you of your amazing parents, or because you hope to be that for your kids some day?

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