"The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.""The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out."...more
"You are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!" "Thank goodness!"
Just like Mr. Baggins, this book was absolutely unexpected. I was nev"You are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!" "Thank goodness!"
Just like Mr. Baggins, this book was absolutely unexpected. I was never the kid that wanted to read The Hobbit, and no matter how many books I loved mentioned it, I could never quite seem to get myself to pick it up. I never had the push or the motivation until I metAly.
Aly, whom loving books with has become one of the greatest joys of my life. How could I not read HER book? How could I not understand the one that shaped her in all the same ways my favorites shaped me? I'm so lucky to have met her Bilbo: partly because he says "thank goodness" just like I do, but mostly because he is the absolute embodiment of being kind in an unkind world. My absolute biggest goal in life is to follow that ideology.
We could all learn a little bit from Bilbo.
Because not only is he the sweetest, most reliable, most understanding friend of all, but he'll also act in your best interest and motivate you when he is at his lowest. He will constantly complain, but never when you need him. He will always want to eat, but go without if you have to as well. He is consistently baffled, always confused, but always seems to have the answers when his friends need them most.
He was entirely against his adventure, and yet is the happiest he has ever been because of the joy it brought him even with all the hurt.
Positivity, light, joy, and childhood dreams of adventure are so clear in these pages that I somehow went from four stars to five in a breath. Because it has the message I think we're all searching for in life. That time goes by, but we don't have to change because of it. If we want to sit at home, have tea, and live a mundane life: we should. But that doesn't mean an adventure cannot be a part of our future as well.
Who cares what those around us think? As long as we think highly of ourselves, life will continue to go on.
Because we're such a little part of the world, even with a heart as big as Bilbo's.... and thank goodness for that!...more
"Fear is the relinquishment of logic, the willing relinquishing of reasonable patterns. We yield to it or we fight it, but we cannot meet it halfway.""Fear is the relinquishment of logic, the willing relinquishing of reasonable patterns. We yield to it or we fight it, but we cannot meet it halfway."
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All you need to know is that this book has taken up residence in my freezer. When a book is so well written that you decide you have to send it across the country to your friend so you never have to look at it again... you know it's good.
It was so good.
I think every time mental health gets tied into a horror novel it just goes to show how terrifying anxiety and depression can be. How the paranormal can just be another way our brains decide we're in danger. How if you let those things take over, anything can happen. And that was such a beautiful underlying theme in this book... which I was not expecting in the slightest.
I asked for a horror book to make me like it, and this one did. So thank you, Hill House, but I'm going to take a break on the rest of the horror genre for a while.
Another quote that ties beautifully into the one above, "Don't be so afraid all time time. We never know where our courage is coming from."
Explanations for the things that scare us, like fear being the relinquishment of logic, they comfort. Being told not to be afraid and promising that courage comes from all kinds of mysterious places, more comfort. I just think that part of this book was so special. That no matter how scared, hurt, or lost we are... we can always find an explanation and some courage somewhere.
"All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find."
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Let me tell you, I found the treasure in this one. I"All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find."
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Let me tell you, I found the treasure in this one. I have been so excited to read Agnes Grey since I readThe Tenant of Wildfell Hallearlier this year and it did not let me down. It was definitely a bit slower as a read, but worth every word to get to the end.
As is the Bronte sisters way, this is an account of a series of events in Agnes Grey's life. We begin with her families history, the tale of a rich girl who falls in love with a poor boy and decides love is more important than money. The difference between this story and others is that she never regrets her choice. She loves, and she builds a family, and she gets her happily ever after.
Agnes is the youngest of the family and has always been treated as such. She wants to prove that while she may always be the youngest, and young in their eyes, she can do anything they can do. She believes, as all of us do for a little while, that the world will embrace her and any dream can come true if you put enough heart into it. Is it not comforting that that's such a timeless ideal?
I loved the way Anne brought Christianity to life in this story. She made it feel as comforting as it ought to be when you truly believe in something. Every time she allowed her faith to be a comfort to her trials, I could feel the strength it gave her, and I loved to be a part of it.
There's also a love story snuck in there that I wasn't expecting, and happily encouraged with every page I turned. I love that I have another kind and loving Edward to hold so close to my heart.
I'm so glad I will forever have Anne Bronte's lost treasures and wish she got as much credit as her sisters for her incredible story telling. No matter, honestly, as I'll love them enough for the world.
"How odd it is that we so often weep for each other's distresses when we shed not a tear for our own!"
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I adored this book. I devoured this book. I"How odd it is that we so often weep for each other's distresses when we shed not a tear for our own!"
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I adored this book. I devoured this book. I think Anne Bronte might just be my favorite Bronte. Don't quote me on that. (But maybe do)
This story had me hooked from the start. I've become quite the classics fan over the past few years, and this one had me from the summary alone. It felt like it was calling my name honestly. Not only have I become a fan of the classics, but books written in letters as well. I readJane Eyreearlier this year and loved the way it was brought to life through the letters she wrote. Helen's were just as enticing, just as exciting to follow.
A story written in the present, but carried by its past? There just isn't anything better.
What captured my interest the most, though, was how current this all felt. It's a book written almost 200 years ago and yet it tells the same stories as the ones we experience now. Infidelity. Miscommunication. Drama and gossip. Realizing that sometimes, feelings are simply trivial until the real ones come about. I loved how much I could relate to Helen, how much I could love Gilbert. I loved that you could tell the difference between the true gentleman and the scoundrels of the past before circumstances were brought to light.
It was thrilling, and comforting, and entertaining, and powerful.
Helen is a woman who stands up for herself against all odds. A woman who will protect her son above all else. Who will look to God for guidance and love. She never wavers in her faith, she never loses her love for Him, no matter what trials she faces on earth. She even tells Gilbert that even if they can not love each other in this lifetime, they will love each other in Heaven. The belief in that admission carries you through the heart break of the end.
But do love stories ever really end with a broken heart?
What a dynamic, romantic, compelling story. I can't wait to see what classic I pick up next.
"There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human na"There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere."...more
"One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them."
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I don't think I actually understand a single thing that happened in this b"One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them."
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I don't think I actually understand a single thing that happened in this book but I still enjoyed it... does that make sense? Dystopian novels are another breed of book. Especially classic dystopian novels.
I did enjoy the last few chapters a lot, with the talk about God and the relevance to "the past" in this book. What believing in something really means. Hence the quote I chose for this book. I feel like I honestly just need to read it more than once to even try and figure out what this book was about other than the repression of feelings and everything that comes with them.
"The body grows slowly and steadily, but the soul grows by leaps and bounds.""The body grows slowly and steadily, but the soul grows by leaps and bounds."...more
paige (ptsungirl)
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