I was kindly tagged by Rachel (who you should definitely be following) to do the Favourite Book Quotes Tag.
Rules:
1. Mention the creator of the tag (Celine @Celinelingg).
2. Mention the blogger who tagged you.
3. List down 5 of your favourite book quotes along with the reasons.
4. Spread the love and tag some people to participate and connect! (There’s no limit in number, so have some fun and just tag!).
Being tagged for this made me realise how bad I actually am at keeping track of quotes I love, which is a shame. That said, here is a random selection of a few that have stayed with me, in no particular order. There are 6, because I had already picked them out before I realised we were supposed to choose 5, and I couldn’t decide which one to cut! 😛
1. The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni
“To remember is to rewrite. To photograph is to replace. The only reliable memories, I suppose, are the ones that have been forgotten. They are the dark rooms of the mind. Unopened, untouched, and uncorrupted.”
I love this because it’s a very interesting take on the notion of memory. Geni repeatedly likens it to her heroine’s work as a photographer, drawing parallels between retelling a story, and choosing what to frame when setting up a picture – both being valid means of altering the truth. It’s thus vitally important in understanding the character’s reliability as a narrator, with much of the book exploring the idea that storytelling is used as a means of protection from trauma.
2. All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan
“Martin Toppy is the son of a famous Traveller and the father of my unborn child. He’s seventeen, I’m thirty-three. I was his teacher. I’d have killed myself by now if I was brave enough. I don’t think it would hurt the baby. His little heart would stop with mine. He wouldn’t feel himself leaving one world of darkness for another, his spirit untangling itself from me.”
Talk about powerful opening lines that hook you straight away. This paragraph sets the tone perfectly for Ryan’s exhilaratingly stressful story about a brilliant and morally complex heroine.
3. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
“I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine, and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.”
This, in part, is representative of my love for Frankenstein in general. But I think it also establishes the often-overlooked complexity of the eponymous doctor’s creation, in a suitably eloquent and unsettling manner. It’s one of many instances in which Shelley asks us to ponder what really makes a monster.
4. The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
“When people are cruel it’s often said that they have no heart, only a cold space or lump of ice in their chest. This was never true of Avalon. She had no heart, everyone knew, but there was nothing cold about her. In her chest burned an enormous coal, white-hot, brighter than the North Star. North knew the truth about Avalon: she was made of fire, and she would burn them all.”
I’ve always loved this. It’s one of the most evocative descriptions of an antagonist I’ve read.
5. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
“The road to Manderley lay ahead. There was no moon. The sky above our heads was inky black. But the sky on the horizon was not dark at all. It was shot with crimson, like a splash of blood. And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea.”
Daphne du Maurier, queen of atmosphere, doing what she does best. This is one of my favourite books of all time, so it had to feature on here in some shape or form.
6. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
“To many, I was myth incarnate, the embodiment of a most superb legend, a fairy tale. Some considered me a monster, a mutation. To my great misfortune, I was once mistaken for an angel. To my mother, I was everything. To my father, nothing at all. To my grandmother, I was a daily reminder of loves long lost. But I knew the truth—deep down, I always did. I was just a girl.”
I think this quote perfectly captures the dreamlike beauty and off-kilter magic of the novel, with its tone of wonder and pathos. Featured at the start of the book, it is also a good indicator of what lies ahead; a multi-generational family saga, plagued by loss, yet tinged with hope. I’m not a re-reader, but something about this book has really stayed with me, and I often feel compelled to return to it. Perhaps this is the year I will finally do so.
***
I’ll stop there, as I’ve already surpassed the required number of 5, and I could easily get carried away. Thanks again to Rachel for tagging me! Since it’s taken me a while to get to it, and I’ve done a few tags recently, I’ll once again leave this open for anyone who hasn’t yet been tagged, but would like to get involved. Let me know if you do it so I can check out your chosen quotes!