Short of saying I haven’t read in quite a while, I am happy that since the start of January, I was able to catch up on my reading. It’s now a feat for me to read five books in a span of almost two months because for a while there, reading has taken a backseat although I have accumulated and bought more books that would last me the whole year, I think.
I am a fan of Richard Paul Evans. Since I found him more than a decade ago, I enjoyed sourcing bookstores to look for more of his books. Luckily though, even some of my friends joined in the search and sent me hardbound copies of his books from abroad. And as if that is not enough, Richard is an online friend at FB so I am always updated on what is new and what I’ve missed. Last night, I finished reading one of his earlier published books, The Looking Glass. It’s a re-read actually but like the first time that I encountered it, it never fails to give me that smile. One becomes reflective when you read about life and all its angst. One becomes a mirror that reflects how life is, at the moment, in a heartbeat, for a lifetime. No, this is not a book summary, I’ll just want to recall all the beautiful quotes I marked with pencil while reading it. You might have noticed that I regularly post quotes here from his timeline (with his permission, of course). And I love those diary entries every start of each chapter of all his books.
-The dreams still haunt me, leaving me in the dawn wet with tears. It is true, there are moments in one’s life more memorable than entire years. But these moments are those usually wished forgotten.
-I do not wonder at the cruelty of this world, as it seems the nature of it. I find myself more perplexed as why there is good at all.
-I have learned a great truth of life. We do not succeed in spite of our challenges and difficulties, but rather, precisely because of them.
-Oftentimes it takes the darkness of another grief to shed light on our own.
-The truth of ourselves is too often blurred by the capricious image of our self-perception. I believe it is among greatest quests of life, not just to see life as it really is, but to see his part in it.
-Until you see yourself worthy of love, you will forever be chained.
-Not all pain was equal. That there could in fact, be delicious sorrow.
-The greatest shackles we bear in this life are those forged by our own fears.
-The measure of a person’s heart, the barometer of good or evil, was nothing more than the extent to choose life over death. That the path of God was simply the path of life, abundant and eternal.
-Though one does not forget the wounds of the past, scars can bring gratitude if we will consider the healer.
-Nowhere does man err more greatly than when he looks to see the reality of what he is.
I have just started on another Anita Shreve book, A Change of Altitude. I hope it will be just as good as her other books.
Dreams And Escapes 