6/24/24:
Have you ever read a perfectly crafted sentence that resonates so deeply that you find yourself digging through life’s memories to find a connection? A sentence that gives you the sense that the author either borrowed or shared your story and embedded it in their novel.
Generally, I get so engrossed in a book that I can’t put it down or it’s so hard to get into, that I abandon it. For many reasons, I want to savor The Paris Novel by Ruth Riechl. First, many of Ruth’s sentences flow effortlessly bringing desires, feelings, memories, and thoughts to the surface:
“No wonder people liked drinking wine! She could feel her whole body become softer as if the strings that tied her up had all been cut.”“”I am far from bored.”: Is this, she wondered, what life is like for other people?”
“The day tilted on its axis; it was all extremely strange.”
Secondly, I love to travel, see new places, and meet new people to learn about their lives and how they connect with one another and the world around them.
I’m on chapter 7, and the main character, Stella, has created a rigid and scheduled routine to feel safe in her life and is trying to step out of the box she constructed for herself. I find it refreshing to see people step out of their comfort zones and spread their wings to try new things and discover more of themselves and their surroundings.
Often, I find myself wavering back and forth between taking risks to step out of my comfort zone or retreating to safety, much like the contrast between devouring a captivating book in one sitting and abandoning one that bores me. With The Pairs Novel, I think I’ll savor the book and read a few chapters daily to make a last. I can’t remember the last time I wanted to stretch something out in time. It may have something to do with the strange feeling of life being tiled on an axis.
6/26/2024:
Two days and I’m on chapter 13. Not bad for trying to savor a book. I traveled solo to Paris a few years back, and now, twelve chapters in, I want to revisit a few places and see a few more. I stayed in an apartment with a view of Notre Dame right after the fire and went to many of the places Stella visits in the book. I was just a block from Shakespeare and Company and visited a time or two to read poetry while sipping on a lattè. I bought a red, white, and blue dress on one of my trips to France and wear it often, but it has never brought me the transformation or excitement that Stella experiences in the book wearing the designer dress. I guess that’s why I like to read books; I can imagine myself into a Cinderella or superhero story or whatever I might be dreaming.
Recent lines that I love and resonate with me:
“Wasn’t this the same thing in another medium?”
“You didn’t have to pepper them with questions. It might be possible to get to know them, bit by bit.”“More than friendly – he had the smug expression of a bird-watcher who had just seen an extinct creature land on a nearby tree.”
“And nobody leaves until they have written an autobiography…But there’s nothing interesting about me.”
I could write a long dissertation about these four lines and my life experiences surrounding them, but I won’t. Instead, I’m off to get lost in chapters 13, 14, and maybe 15 today to see what happens next on Stella’s Paris adventure.
6/27/2024:
I confess, I read up to Chapter 17 and I found so many treasures. Beautifully constructed sentences that reflected back to others I liked in previous chapters and possibly forward. I shall uncover that in the days to come. I don’t want to say too much about the story and ruin the read for you, but it moves at a wonderful pace with great character development and an intriguing storyline. I do recommend it. Here is the treasure trove I found:
“Words were like music, each one transforming the one that came after it, and sometimes even those before it, she could feel the words resonating and changing.”
“To her surprise, it became easier with each passing day.”
“Who was she? As far as I can tell, everything in these books are lies.”
“And now she felt she was copy editing in three dimensions.”
Treasure box Photo by Ashin K Suresh on Unsplash