"Transatlantic" Colum McCann

“They were pouring down their winnowed bitterness, and in his silence he just kept thrashing, spluttering, pushing the words away.  A refusal to drown.  What nobody noticed, not even himself, was that the grain kept rising, and the silo filled, but he kept rising with it, and the sounds grew different, word upon word, falling around him, building beneath him.  And now-at the top of the silo- he has clawed himself up and dusted himself off and he stands there equal with the pourers who are astounded by the language that lies below them.  They glance at each other.  Three ways down…They can fall into the grain and drown, they can jump off the edge and abandon it, or they can learn to sow it very slowly at their feet.”

"Sun Storm" Asa Larsson

"I really haven't got anything to complain about, she thinks, turning to someone out there in the universe.  A wonderful family and a good life.  I've already had more that anyone has a right to ask for.  "Thank you," she says out loud."

(I'm attempting to read all of Larsson's books; there will be several more posts.)

"Until Thy Wrath Be Past" Asa Larsson

"He tried to convince himself that love is about giving, not taking.  It should be okay to simply be a giver.  To love without expecting anything in return.  But he finds that difficult.  He wants her.  He wants her for himself.  'I think I love her,' he says to Tintin. 'How the hell did that happen?'"

I've discovered that I'm on a Scandinavian Kick, and Asa Larsson is a great writer.  The library has requested her other books for me on inter-library loan. 

"Blackwater" Kerstin Ekman

"He decided to ask some people to dinner because he realized he was drifting into something he would have jokingly diagnosed as paranoia in anyone else."

"He himself could not have borne to see Annie.  But he had to.  And, he thought to himself afterward, 'bear' is an empty word.  Just a kind of exclamation.  You bear it.  You put two fingers on what has happened and feel it."

"It's true I walk in the forest every day and I am the only woman here who goes walking outside the berry-picking season.  And who dares to walk alone.  But that does not make me feel at home in the forest.  I think the timber company's men or the Brandberg men on their road-making machines feel much more at home. I walk her as Rosseau did in the woods of St. Germain, dazed by fantasies, scents, and visions of beauty.  The point is, my visions are the opposite of the civilization I live in.  I'm seeking an alternative...You know quite a few bachelors and lumberjacks have ended up like him in a cabin or surplus company hut...The difference between the loner in his cabin and me is that I always go back to school on Monday morning.  I know my attempts at finding an alternative are imperfect, and that my job is to teach schoolchildren to think."  (pg 343-344)

The above is from a long passage that is one of the most beautiful passages I have ever read, and something we should all discover.

"Say Nice Things About Detroit" Scott Lasser

" "Look," he said, "I've got a white family, and I've got a black family, so I can tell you this:  black people are pretty much like white people, except for one thing- black people got to deal with white people.  And that changes you." "

"The Interestings" By Meg Wolitzer

“Part of the beauty of love was that you didn’t need to explain it to anyone else. You could refuse to explain. With love, apparently you didn’t necessarily feel the need to explain anything at all.”

-Had to quickly return this book to the library, but really enjoyed it. 

"A Constellation of Vital Phenomena" By Anthony Marra

""You're here," Sonja said, surprised.  "Yes," Havaa agreed.  "I'm here.  This is the waiting room."  Sonja glanced down to the floor, to the chairs, puzzling over this and then nodding.  "You're right.  This is the waiting room," she said, and sat in the folding chair beside Havaa.""