Now Reading ...
May. 1st, 2011 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
texchan(Just finished, actually ... but this book is so beautifully written that I just had to share a snippet. Even if it's not timely.)
"May I come and see you tomorrow?" he asked.
"I think not," she said. "I think I shall be busy, preparing to go to my husband's family."
"You can't be serious. Just like that? What about our Sunday readings?"
"I will think of you whenever I read Mr. Kipling, Major," she said, with a sad smile. "Thank you for trying to be my friend." She offered her hand and he again put it to his lips. After a few moments, she tugged it gently away and stepped down to the driveway. He wanted so much to run down after her but he found himself fixed where he was, standing in the light of the doorway with the music spilling around him and the crowd waiting for him inside.
"I could come down early," he called after her. "We could talk."
"Go back to your party, Major," she said. "You'll catch cold standing in the dark." She hurried down the driveway and as she disappeared, blue dress into deep night, he knew he was a fool. Yet at that moment, he could not find a way to be a different man.
~ Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Helen Simonson
Yet at that moment, he could not find a way to be a different man.
That just about says it all, doesn't it? And packs quite the emotional gut-punch, too. One of those rare moments when I identify with a fictional character so deeply that it hurts, and I just wanted to give the poor man a hug. There are so many times when I've wished I was a different person; I'm sure many of us have. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff. I loved this book so much; it's one of those titles I think everyone should read.
"May I come and see you tomorrow?" he asked.
"I think not," she said. "I think I shall be busy, preparing to go to my husband's family."
"You can't be serious. Just like that? What about our Sunday readings?"
"I will think of you whenever I read Mr. Kipling, Major," she said, with a sad smile. "Thank you for trying to be my friend." She offered her hand and he again put it to his lips. After a few moments, she tugged it gently away and stepped down to the driveway. He wanted so much to run down after her but he found himself fixed where he was, standing in the light of the doorway with the music spilling around him and the crowd waiting for him inside.
"I could come down early," he called after her. "We could talk."
"Go back to your party, Major," she said. "You'll catch cold standing in the dark." She hurried down the driveway and as she disappeared, blue dress into deep night, he knew he was a fool. Yet at that moment, he could not find a way to be a different man.
~ Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Helen Simonson
Yet at that moment, he could not find a way to be a different man.
That just about says it all, doesn't it? And packs quite the emotional gut-punch, too. One of those rare moments when I identify with a fictional character so deeply that it hurts, and I just wanted to give the poor man a hug. There are so many times when I've wished I was a different person; I'm sure many of us have. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff. I loved this book so much; it's one of those titles I think everyone should read.