What do you remember about a book you've read? Is it a character, a
plot, or a specific scene? I suppose that you, like me, remember
different things from different books and from some books, nothing at all. I want to talk about images that, once
implanted in your mind, never leave it.
For example, Louisa May Alcott's Little
Women , was the first book that left me with lasting images. Of them all,
one scene of the March girls and Laurie frolicking in the snow has remained with
me since I was ten. I can still see it plainly--the picket fence, the deep
snow. I can feel the chilling temperature and hear their shouts and laughter. I
was there.
Another unforgettable image is a scene by Daphne du Maurier from one of
her Gothic novels, perhaps Rebecca, but I no longer remember the book's title.
In the scene, the heroine was attempting to eat a piece of meat and it moved on
her plate. She lifted it up and the underside was covered with maggots. I can
feel the horror of that discovery as if it happened to me.
A later scene from A Few Hours of
Sunlight by Francoise Sagan remains in my mind years after reading it. In
fact, it inspired my poem titled "So Quickly Comes the Dark" whose
first line is the title of Sagan's book.
It is a sweltering summer day and the hero and heroine are making love
in an attic room. They are bathed in
perspiration which leaves wet imprints of their bodies on the rough sheets they
lie on. There are no explicit descriptions or dialogue, only the stifling heat
and silence accompany this illicit encounter but the image was so powerful that
I recall it vividly even now.
What makes a lasting image? I don't know the answer. I only know what
has lasted for many years from numerous books I've read. I hope you will think of a special scene that
has meaning for you and share it here.
And if you have an answer to the question, please share that with us,
too.
This will be my last post here before Christmas so I'd like to blatantly suggest that you consider the holiday books below for those readers on your Santa list. All are available in ebook or print at prices that won't damage your shopping budget. Find LINDA SWIFT in Books on Amazon.
   |
From Thanksgiving through New Years, enjoy the holiday season.
Linda Swift
https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Swift/e/B004PGXCTQ
It's been different things for me. Sometimes it's the prose where I'm just lost in the moment where the author has taken me. Other times it's been character that makes me think of the book long after I've finished the tale. Recently, I read a Karen Robard series, and the main character just came alive for me. Loved his snarky responses, his humor and though he was rough around the edges, he also had a caring side too. Very complex character that rang true.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments, Karen. I can relate to what you are saying about getting lost in a book. And I'm glad you are a fan of Karen Robards. Several years ago, she was in a Kentucky writers' group that I attended a few times. That was when she was just beginning her career. She is from Louisville and I remember her as a very nice person.
DeleteAlthough, try as I may to think of a specific scene, I can't quote one outright. But I have been greatly touched by scenes from stories I have read. I especially remember the scenes Diana Gabaldon penned in her books from the Outlander series where she paints a picture of how cold Scotland was and how hard life was to endure. Mostly, I remember the dialogue and the surprisingly tender things Jamie Frazier said to Clare.
ReplyDeleteLinda Lael Miller has a wonderful way of writing a western and the humor she presents with her leading men makes me smile and lifts my spirits. When she writes a blizzard scene, I have to dive under the blankets.
I love your stories, Linda. They are heartwarming stories. I'm looking forward to reading Seasons of the Heart and your story in Have Yourself a Merry Little Romance. I already know they are going to leave me feeling warm with the spirit of the season.
Thank you for these kind compliments, Sarah. We writers live for words like these, you know. Seasons of the Heart is really three novellas in one. The first is a Christmas story and the other two follow in a sequence with some of the same characters. Each is a romance and all are set in the Chattanooga area in the Civil War time period. I think my story in Have Yourself a Merry Little Romance will touch your tender heart. And strange, the woman and her small children ended up in a later story I wrote (Let Nothing You Dismay). They were traveling North and in the this story they had gotten to Alabama. In the second book they showed up in Kentucky. I hadn't any idea they would until they walked into the Welcome Center. And then it made perfect sense that they were there. You would have to read both stories, I suppose, to see the connection. I, too, like Linda Lael Miller's books. And I'm not really a western fan.
Delete