The Awakening Notes

Characters

Characters: Leonce and Robert (foils)

Leonce: 40 years old, knows he's better, more secure, thinks of Edna as property, indifferent about Edna's relationship on the island with Robert
note: back then, men in their 20s were encouraged to find themselves, travel, get educated, set up a business, at 30 they were then eligible for marriage

Robert Lebrun: son of Mrs. Lebrun, when his father dies, their finances go down so her friends pay her to live on Grand Isle for the summer so she can maintain their wealthy lifestyle, Edna doesn't see him as a love interest until later, slightly annoying and bothersome due to being egotistic, somewhat of a player which is normal for age, 26 years old

Characters: Edna and Adele

Edna: reserved, shy, no motherly feel

Adele: outgoing, speaks her mind, child-bearing look, mother-woman, Creole-chastity

Mother-woman: (expectation of Creole society) motherhood defines them: their child are or become their identity

character: Mariequita

Mariequita: Robert saved her the past summer from his brother Victor, who was about to rape her; no right, no status, could only be Robert's mistress, flirt, hangs out with Victor, works for Mrs. Lebrun

Characters: Adele and Mademoiselle Reisz (foils)

Adele: cares about appearances, rarely leaves house, has a large house with light and children, doesn't want to deal with real life

Mademoiselle Reisz: alone, all about individual expression, lives in an apartment which is dusty, dark and not for entertaining, forces Edna to talk about hard things, wears the same clothes, doesn't really dress up

Characters (men): Leonce, Robert, Edna's father, Alcee Arobin

Leonce: sees Edna as property (Edna temporarily accepts this position)

Robert: lover, Edna loves him

Edna's father: Edna and him aren't close but get along, very oppressive of women

Alcee Arobin: Edna doesn't like him, sexually attracted to him, shallow, does not intrigue Edna, she does not love him, fling, "fake love"

Characters (Damage Control): father, Adele, Madame Lebrun, Leonce, Doctor Mandelet

Father: tells Leonce to "reign her in"

Adele: tells her to get away from Alcee Arobin, doesn't like Edna living alone, worried about Edna's safety and security

Madame Lebrun: sent Robert away to Mexico and made it look like his choice

Leonce: buys her diamonds, plans a summer trip and puts it in the paper, renovations to the big house

Doctor Mandelet: not understand and most sympathetic of Edna, suspects Edna is "stepping out" on Leonce

Characters (not interested in Damage Control): Alcee Arobin, Mademoiselle Reisz

Alcee: benefiting from it

Mademoiselle Reisz: tells Edna to have strong wings, have to stand up to societal judgment

Characters (women and types of women): Adele, Mademoiselle Reisz, Mrs. Highcamp, Madame Lebrun, Mariequita, the lovers, the lady in black, the quadroon

Adele: mother-woman

Mademoiselle Reisz: independent, social outcast but accepted, not a wife, artist

Mrs. Highcamp: married, flirty, independent, still dependent on Creole society

Madame Lebrun: widow, gives her a little more freedom

Mariequita: Mexican, lower class, can flirt and have relationships, be a mistress to Robert or Victor

the Lovers: young, excused for being passionate

the Lady in black: widow, mourns, pious, religious

the Quadroon: nannie, black, unmarried

All of these women contrast with Edna and their situations do not work for Edna. She could not accept being in their place.


Motifs

the Ocean: individuality and solitude, self-awareness, never ending, connection to childhood, enlightenment, freedom, death and fear, learning to swim=recognition of individuality, assertion of self, escape,

the Birds (owl, parrot, mockingbird): Edna and her feelings about her situation, caged (the pigeon house), inability to speak her mind, ability of women to communicate, flight=awakening and individuality

Sleep: escape (but not ultimate-she has to wake up) from reality or the prison of her life, provides refuge and revitalization, repairs tattered emotions, peace, alludes Edna sometimes, she feigns sleep-first desire for Robert (night like a dream in the hammock), allow her to awaken

Clothing: civilizing and restrictive force of society, Edna removes it-naked in front of ocean, her growing awakening and assertion of self,  white=chastity, virginity, purity, ect, also the color of summer, some women such as the lady in black do not change appearances

Art: connection to freedom, music, sketching and drawing, Robert sings a song and Edna sings it later in the book, self-expression and assertion, must have strong wings and the courageous and brave soul to be an artist, failure

the Moon: turning points, sleep (ocean, owl, sleep), revealing, sexual awakening, "white light", "strips of moonlight", romance and desire, "the first-felt throbbings of desire",
"new moon" means a new cycle and life, when the moon is absent Edna realizes that she can't have what she wants, sexual and romantic love

Red Riding Hood Movie Review

I can't help but like Amanda Seyfridge. I saw Dear John, Letters to Juliet, and Mamma Mia; She was in all of those. She was also in Red Riding Hood, the new movie. I paid 10: 50 to see it. Talk about ridiculous. This movie was not worth 10:50, which is enough to say that few movies are worth that much to see, and there are none currently.

Ms. Amanda plays the role of Valerie (a name unsuited for her looks, in my opinion). She is in love with her best friend, Peter who is a woodcutter, but she is also engaged by her parents to Henry, a blacksmith. Henry and Peter are both "sigh-from-how-cute-they-are-guys" Valerie, Peter, and Henry are everywhere, being attractive, in this movie.

There are bigger problems, however, than Valerie's love life. The wolf that has threatened the village for two generations, eating their livestock, has killed a human. Valerie's older sister, Lucy. Lucy had loved Henry, but she couldn't marry him because Henry was in love with Valerie. He thought it was just a crush, and was in love with Valerie. The men decide to go slay the wolf, in which Henry's father is killed. The wolf they found is not their wolf. Their wolf is worse than just a wolf-- it is a werewolf.

Enter sir Solomon, a man who is worse than the wolf. The deal with the wolf is that "A man bitten is a man cursed." Werewolf blood is also passed by the generations. There are suspicions as to who the wolf is, since it is a man who lives among them. The blood moon comes, and the wolf enters the village. It kills those in its' path, until it find Valerie and her friend and corners them. It talks to Valerie, and she understands it. The wolf has dark brown eyes, like many in the village.

The friend tells sir Solomon that Valerie is a witch; Valerie does not deny the claims. Henry and Peter break her chains. Sir Solomon is bitten and "a man bitten is a man cursed". For those who are bitten, death comes before they can change with the moon.

Valerie's grandmother is the one who gives her the red cloak. She is also a cook and often makes stew. This is where the original fairy tale ties in.

And well, the ending is pretty great. But you know me, readers, that I am a sucker for endings.


I am not going to say whether you should or should not watch this movie. But I do know that it is not worth paying 10:50 for as amazing as Ms. Amanda and her guys are. So maybe wait for it come out on DVD and rent it. I also know that now that I have seen the movie I want to read the book.

Tangled Movie Review

When I walk into the theater to an animated movie filled with kids and their parents, I know it's going to be a good movie.

Tangled is a more modern version of the story Rapunzel. In the storybook version, Rapunzel is born to poor parents and taken away to a tower. A prince finds her and falls in love, but the witch finds out and tries to stop them from escape. Rapunzel's hair is cut off and they go away, find Rapunzel's real parents, and all go to the prince's kingdom where they live happily ever after.

Well, Tangled, is different from the storybook version. It begins with a magical orange flower that was born out of a drop of pure sunlight. An old witch finds it and keeps it hidden to use its power to keep her young. Then the pregnant queen of the realm gets sick. The soldiers go out looking for the flower to heal her. They find it and the queen is healed. A beautiful girl with blond hair is born. The queen and king, who both have brown hair, send up a lantern to the sky on the day she is born. The witch steals the princess that night and takes her to a hidden tower, that the soldiers, despite their search, do not find.

Rapunzel's hair has the same power of the magic flower and as long as it remains uncut it will always be magically. To unleash her power they sing a song, where the hair glows as they brush it. The queen and king and people of the kingdom always send up lanterns to the sky on her birthday in hopes that the lost princess will return. She doesn't know what they mean; she doesn't know that she is the princess. At eighteen, Rapunzel wants to go see the floating lanterns in the kingdom. As safe as the tower is, Rapunzel is willing to risk the dangers of the outside world to see them. The witch has always kept Rapunzel's dreams of leaving by scaring her with stories. But this dream the witch can't scare off.

Flynn Rider and two other really bad guys steal the crown that has been waiting for it's princess all those years. The soldiers go after them, and only Flynn escapes with the crown. The noble horse Max chases after him. He stumbles upon a cave that leads to Rapunzel's tower. He climbs it and she hits in with her frying pan and ties him up with her hair. Rapunzel and Flynn strike a deal that she will release him from the tower and give him back the crown he stole if he takes her into the kingdom to see the floating lanthers. He agrees and when the witch is gone, they escape.

 The witch comes after them after seeing the horse Max and returning to the tower to see Rapunzel gone, and finding the satchel with the crown and a wanted poster of Flynn in it. She makes a deal with the two bad guys who want revenge on Flynn for betraying them. Her plan is to manipulate Rapunzel's thinking into making her return to the tower with her.

Meanwhile, Flynn and Rapunzel, after a stop to sing at an inn and running from a breaking dam and sword fighting a horse, they make it to the kingdom with some help from the reluctant Max. Some little girls braid her hair up for her and put flowers in it. Rapunzel and the townspeople dance together. She sees a painting of the queen and king holding her as a baby. Flynn gives her a piece of cloth with a sun on it. He takes her out on a boat to see them. I'm not going to spoil it what happens, but let's just say it's pretty cool. Rapunzel gets her dream.

 She is prepared to give him back the crown (which the witch gave her and told her that Flynn would run once he had it) Flynn tries to give them back the crown, but they beat him up and send him to jail. The witch beats up the bad guys who try to kidnap Rapunzel and they return to the tower; Rapunzel feeling sad over Flynn, whom she has fallen in love with; he is also in love with her. Max gets the inn people to break Flynn out of jail, since he suspects foul play. Flynn rides with Max to the tower and climbs it.

And I am not going to spoil the ending either, but know that it is perfect ending, and a little surprising. Readers will just have to go watch this one for themselves. The only thing that I think might have possibly made it better is if it had not been animated. (But I don't know how that would have worked.) On a final note, I'll say that this is a movie to get tangled in.

Shiver Review

A few weeks ago I read Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (Steve-otter, Maggie is a nice name) It has a fantastic cover, which I totally love. The two main characters are Grace and Sam. They live in Mercy Falls, Minnesota (a fictional place based off the real town Ely, MN)

 Sam is a werewolf. In the winter, when its cold enough for him to change to a wolf, he does and he changes back in the spring. The longer a human has been a wolf, the more heat he needs to change back again and then to stay human, and he changes later than a newer wolf. So a new wolf changes in March or April and an older wolf (one who been changing longer) changes in August or September. Then, after about 15-20 years they stop changing and are just wolves.

Sam is a yellow-eyed wolf and Grace has been watching him from her tire swing and back porch for six years. From between the end of summer and the last closing days of fall, Sam and Grace meet, fall in love, and struggle. Sam must struggle to stay human and Grace has to fight to keep him.

Here's the quote on the back cover: (Sam) " And then I opened my eyes and it was just Grace and me-nothing anywhere but Grace and me-she pressing her lips together as though she were keeping my kiss inside her, and me holding this moment that was as fragile as a bird in my hands."

Shiver switches from Grace and Sam's perspectives. Despite their newfound love, trouble lurks in Mercy Falls. A new wolf, marked "dead" to the human world is out there, haunting humans; his name is Jack Culpeper. His sister Isabel is determined to find the truth about his death and Grace's photographer Olivia gets caught up with him trying to help and get the photos. Also Shelby, the white wolf, wants power in the pack, to be the alpha female and Grace now stands in her way. Determined to save Jack, Sam, and Olivia, Grace and Isabel team up to find a cure.

Personally, I loved Shiver. This was one of the best books I've read and I just loved the imagery and symbolism and I just kept coming back to some parts. Shiver: highly recommended.

Siddhartha and The Awakening Notes

Notes on Siddhartha:

-characters: Siddhartha, Govinda, the Brahmin, Buddha, the ferryman, Kamala, the tradesman,  the son

-setting: India, at his father's house, in the forest, in the grove, in the city, by the River

-symbols/motifs: the River, Om, time, sleep, voices, Nature (night, sky, stars, birds, snakes), Enlightenment, Self, Oneness, ego, asceticism, the soul, inner voice, Samsara,  love for children, buddhism, peace, fulfillment, life, teachers, food

Siddhartha is really about reaching Enlightenment, which is the final destination. Having reached that, one can go into Oneness with Nature and the world, connected by the word Om.  Siddhartha searches  for his Self  or Atman. He seeks to reach into his soul to learn who he is and where he belongs, where he is happy, the secrets of the world, about life. He tries to destroy his ego while living as a Samana. But that way doesn't work. Ego is not destroyed by force or methods, but by will. Siddhartha is on a path, also, to asceticism. His real life is by the River and this book is a search for that life.

By the River, Siddhartha learns the meaning of Om, that time does not exist, death does not matter, (death goes along with Oneness), and that he must live in the present and not plan ahead. Each day is worth living, so don't worry about the future or the rest of life or the world. Just live. To live, Siddhartha must learn to listen. To his Atman inside himself. To his inner voice. To his mentor, the ferryman, and to the River. Those who listen to Nature are wiser than those who do not, or try to force themselves into Nature. This book suggests that Nature is not totally indifferent and that all people were born a part of it, but most have removed themselves from it.

Om reflects Enlightenment, and it is the River that teaches Siddhartha to hear Om. To reach Enlightenment, one must live a simple lifestyle and listen to Nature. This book suggests that Nature knows more than humankind and nothing can be achieved without it. One must have Nature to live, as seen when Siddhartha's life in the city suffocates him. He seeks to escape Samsara, the cycle of all life and live outside of it. He comes to this by the River, but ultimately find that he cannot escape it because he is a part of it.

Time does not exist in this novel. I mean, it does, but only briefly. Time is not relevant, does not matter, because life is just life. Life would exist even if time did not. Everything is in the present, so time does not exist. The future is not at that moment, the past is not at that moment, and so only the present matters. This also goes along with the idea of Samsara. There is no mention of the seasons. All life is meant to be searching for enlightenment, which is the true goal.

Siddhartha is an excellent book, one I wish I owned. It's very deep and in a way, reflects every one's search for life.

Notes on The Awakening:

This is the latest book my English class is reading. Somewhat boring, but not hard to read, and some parts are interesting.

-characters on Grand Isle: Edna, Leonce, Robert, Madame Lebrun, Victor, Mariequita, Adele, the lovers and the lady in black, Mademoiselle Reisz, the children, ect.

-setting: Grand Isle for the summer (later in the French Quarter of New Orleans)

-symbols/motifs: the ocean, birds (the parrot, mockingbird, owl), sleep, clothing, art, the moon


The ocean is never ending, calm, inviting, seductive, until she actually goes swimming alone, goes to far out, and almost drowns. The ocean represents Edna's desires for love and freedom. Personally, this is my favorite symbol. I love the ocean. But it is indifferent to humans and to Edna. Nature as beautiful as it is, can be dangerous, as Edna discovers. The ocean is best seen outside of it.

The caged birds are Edna. She is caged in a marriage and life she doesn't understand. The caged birds are disturbing and are constantly trying to get heard. No one is looking inside Edna's heart to see what she feels or thinks. The owl is free, but only at night. Edna is free from the world at night, when she is asleep. Sleep is an escape, and Edna longs for it. Edna is often tired, drowsy, or weary. Life is taking it's toll on her.

I don't really understand clothing as a symbol, because it's everywhere. But on Grand Isle, it is all white. In Creole society such as this, chastity is very important and goes along with the idea that the family is the core of life for women. White represents purity.

Art hasn't really come up yet. But Adele did try to paint Edna. And Mademoiselle Reisz and Adele did play beautifully on the piano. She was considered "an artist of the piano. (or of music). I'll be watching out for more.

The moon appears often, but I'm not sure what it means. We haven't discussed it in class yet. But there is "white light" that always comes out with the moon. And the owl often howls when the moon is out. And when the moon is out, it is night and Edna can escape into sleep.

All the symbols in the book are connected. More on The Awakening in later posts.

Other than reading these two books, I'm trying to read Northanger Abbey, but I've been busy this week. But hopefully, I'll get to read some of it this weekend.

Siddhartha Review and Quotes

Review:

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse is for the wise intellectual. It tells the story of Siddhartha, a Brahmin who leaves with his friend Govinda to learn from the Samanas, trying to become a part of Nature, and leave his Self and destroy his ego. After 3 years of living an ascetic and wandering life, they leave the Samanas to go listen to Buddha, the Sublime One. Govinda accepts Buddha's doctrine, but Siddhartha does not, and rejects all doctrines and teachings and goes on his way. Siddhartha continues on his search for Atman, his true self, and a connection with Nature and God. He goes off looking for his inner voice and Om, perfection. But he forgets his mission and wants to learn the mystery of  women and thus enters Kamala, whom he learns from. He also becomes a tradesman and does dice, which make him rich and worldly, but lost. But then, a dream makes him realize that he has lost Siddhartha and has not found what he was looking for. So he goes and becomes a ferryman, with Vasudeva, the ferryman who has achieved enlightenment, who took him across the River to "lose his life". The River returns it to him. Kamala, who loved Siddhartha,  is traveling with his son, but dies, leaving him in Siddhartha's care, and Siddhartha learns about fatherhood, and Sansara,   He learns how to listen to the River and to think and to wait. It is by the River that Siddhartha finds his Atman and inner voice and truly becomes Siddhartha. Govinda reappears at the end, still searching for wisdom, peace, and connection to Nature that Siddhartha had found.


 Quotes:

From The Son of the Brahmin:

The Brahmin was silent was silent and remained silent so long that the stars drifted in the small window and changed their shape before the silence in the room reached its end. Mute and motionless upon his mat sat the father, and the stars moved across the sky.

An hour later, as no sleep would enter his eyes, the Brahmin got up, paced back and forth, and went out of the house. he looked through the small window of the room and saw Siddhartha standing there, his arms crossed, unmoving. The light cloth of his tunic was shimmering pale. His heart full of disquiet, the father went back to bed.

An hour later, as no sleep would yet enter his eyes, the Brahmin got up once more, paced back and forth, and went out of the house. The moon had risen. He looked through the window into the room; there stood Siddhartha, unmoving, his arms crossed, moonlight gleaming on his bare shins. His heart full of apprehension, the father returned to his bed.

An hour later, and again two hours later, he went out and looked through the small window to see Siddhartha standing there, in the moonlight, in the starlight, in the darkness. He went again from hour to hour, in silence, looked into the room and saw his son standing there unmoving and his heart filled with anger, with disquiet, with trepidation, with sorrow.

And in the last hour of the night before day began, he got up once more, went into the room, and saw the youth standing there; he looked tall to him and like a stranger.

The first light of day fell into the room. The Brahmin saw that Siddhartha's knees were trembling quietly. In Siddhartha's face he saw no trembling; his eyes gazed into the distance straight before him. The father realized then that Siddhartha was no longer with him in the place of his birth. His son had already left him.

From Among the Samanas:

Silent, Siddhartha stood beneath the sun's vertical rays, glowing with pain, glowing with thirst, stood there until he no longer felt pain or thirst. Silent, he stood in the monsoon season; water trickling from his hair onto freezing shoulders, over freezing hips and legs, but the penitent stood until shoulders and legs no longer froze, until they fell silent and were still. Silent, he crouched among thornbushes while blood dripped from his burning skin and pus dripped from open wounds; Siddhartha remained there unyielding, remained motionless until no more blood flowed, nothing pricked any longer, nothing burned.

Govinda replied, "We have learned much, Siddhartha, and much remains to be learned. We are not walking in a circle, we are ascending; the circle is a spiral, and we have already climbed many of its steps."

"I do not wish to walk on water." Siddhartha replied.

From Guatama:

The Buddha was walking along modestly, absorbed in thought. His still face was neither gay or sad; he appeared to be smiling inwardly. Quietly, calmly, with a hidden smile, looking rather like a healthy child, the Buddha strolled down the path, wearing his robe, and placing his foot upon the earth exactly like all his monks, just as was dictated to them. But his face and gait, his quietly lowered gaze, his quietly dangling hand, and indeed each individual finger, on his quietly dangling hand, spoke of peace, spoke perfection, sought nothing, imitated nothing, was gently breathing an imperishable calm, an imperishable light, an inviolate peace.

"Redemption from Self is what we Samanas seek, O Sublime One. If I were one of your disciples, what I fear might happen is that my Self would only apparently, deceptively find peace and be redeemed, but that in truth it would live on and become huge, for I would have made the doctrine and my adherence to it and my love for you and the fellowship of the monks my Self."

"You speak cleverly, my friend. Be on your guard against too much cleverness." The Buddha wandered off, but his gaze and his half smile remained forever engraved in Siddhartha's memory. Never have I seen a man gaze and smile like this, sit and walk like this, he thought; I myself would like to be able to gaze and smile, sit and walk in just such a way, so freely, so venerably, so secretly, so childishly and mysteriously. Truly, only a man who has penetrated the innermost core of his being can gaze and walk like that. Very well, I too will seek to penetrate the innermost core of my being.

From Awakening:

Walking slowly away, Siddhartha realized he was a youth no longer; he had become a man. He realized that something had left him, the way a snakes' old skin leaves it. Something that had accompanied him throughout his youth and been a part of him was no longer present: the desire to have teachers and hear doctrine. He had left behind the last teacher to appear to him on his path, this highest and wisest of teachers, the holiest one; Buddha; he had had to part even from him, unable to accept his doctrine.

Thinking, he walked ever more slowly and asked himself, What is it now that you were hoping to learn from doctrines and teachers, and what is it that they, who taught you so much, were unable to teach you?

Truly, not a single thing in all the world has so occupied my thoughts as this Self of mine, this riddle: that I am alive and that I am One, am different and separate from all the others, that I am Siddhartha. And there is not a thing in the world about which I know less than about myself, about Siddhartha.


I'll be my own teacher, my own pupil. I'll study myself and learn the secret that is Siddhartha.

But he, Siddhartha, Where did he belong? Whose life would he share? Whose tongue would he speak?

From this moment when the world around him melted away and left him as solitary as a star in the sky, from this moment of cold and despondency, Siddhartha emerged, more firmly Self than before, solidified. This, he felt, had been the final shiver of awakening, the final pangs of birth.

From Kamala:

All these things had always been there, and yet he had not seen them; he had not been present. Now he was present, he belonged. Light and shade passed through his eyes, star and moon passed through his heart.

"Yes," the ferryman said, "it is a very beautiful river. I love it above all else. Often I have listened to it, often gazed into its eyes, and always I have learned from it. You can learn a great deal from a river."

"This too I have learned from the River: Everything comes back again. You too, Samana, will come back again."

"I can think. I can wait. I can fast."

From Among the Child People:

"I lack possessions of my own free will, so this is not a hardship."

"Each person gives; each person takes. Such is life."

"There are people who have one whose minds are like those of little children. Most people are like a falling leaf as it twists and turns its way through the air, lurches and tumbles to the ground. Other, though, a very few, are like stars set on a fixed course; no wind can reach them, and they carry their law and their path within them. Among all the many learned men and Samanas I have known, there was just one who wasl ike this. Never will I forget him;Guatama, the Sublime One, who preached this doctrine. Thousands of disciples hear his doctrine every day and do as he instructs, but all of them are falling leaves. Within themselves they have no doctrine and no law."

From Sansara:

Always the arts of thinking, waiting, fasting, had guided him in this life, and those who lived a worldly existence-the child people-had remained foreign to him, as he was to them.

That noble bright awakeness he had experienced once, at the height of his youth, in the days following Guatama's sermon, after his parting with Govinda, that eager expectancy, that proud standing alone without teachers or doctrines, that supple readiness to hear the divine voice within his own heart, had gradually faded into memory; it had been transitory. Distant and faint was the sound of the holy fountainhead that had once been near, that had once murmured inside him.

Waking from this dream with a start, he felt himself surrounded by deep sadness. Devoid of value, it seemed to him, devoid of value and meaning was this life he'd been living; nothing that was alive, nothing in any way precious or worthy of keeping, had remained in his hands. Alone he stood, and empty, like a shipwrecked man upon the shore.

From Beside the River:

"Om, he said aloud. "Om." And he had the knowledge of Brahman, had knowledge of the indestructibility of life, had knowledge of all things divine that he had forgotten.

"Where is the Brahmin Siddhartha? Where is the Samana Siddhartha? Where is the rich man Siddhartha?"

The three noble and unassailable arts he had mastered: fasting, waiting, and thinking. These had been his possessions, his power and strength, his sturdy staff; it was these three arts he had studied in the assiduous, laborious years of his youth, to the exclusion of all else. And now they had abandoned him."

From the Ferryman:

"Rare are those who know how to listen."

"It was the River that taught me to listen, and it will will teach you as well. It knows everything, the River, and one can learn anything from it."

"There were a few among these thousands, just a few of them, four or five, for whom the River ceased to be an obstacle. They heard its voice, they listened to it, and the River became holy to them as it had become holy to me."

He learned from the River, which taught him unceasingly. Above all it taught him how to listen, how to listen with a quiet heart, and a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgment, without opinion.

"Have you too learned this secret from the river: that time does not exist?"  "Yes," Siddhartha, he replied. "The River is in all places at once, at its source and where it flows into the sea, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the rapids, in the ocean, in the mountains, everywhere at once, so for the River there is only the present momment and not the shadow of the future."

From the Son:

"Do you think then, my friend, that this path might be spared anyone at all? Perhaps, your little son, because you love him and would like to spare him sorrow and pain and disillusionment? Even if you died ten times for him, you would not succeed in relieving him of even the smallest fraction of his destiny."

He could sense quite distinctly that this blind love for his son was a passion, something very human, that it was Sansara, a muddy spring, dark water. Yet at the same time he felt that it was not without value, it was necessary, it came out of his own being.

This he had learned from the River, this one thing, to wait, to be patient, to listen.

From Om:

Slowly blossoming, slowly ripening within Siddhartha, was the realization and knowledge of what wisdom and the goal of his long search really was. It was nothing but a readiness of the soul, a capacity, the secret art of being able at every moment, without ceasing to live, to think the thought of Oneness, to feel Oneness and breathe it in.

It resembled the face of his father, the Brahmin. And he remembered how, a very long time ago, he, a mere youth, had forced his father to let him go and join the penitents, how he had taken leave of him, and then he had gone and had never again returned. Had not his father suffered the same pain he himself was now suffering on account of his son. Had not his father died long ago, without ever having seen his son again? Must not he himself expect the same fate? Was not this a repetition a comedy, a strange and foolish thing, this constant circulation in a preordained course?

And when Siddhartha listened attentively to this river, to this thousand-voiced song, when he listened neither for the sorrow nor for the laughter, when he did not attach his soul to any one voice and enter into it with his ego, but rather heard all of them, heard the whole, the oneness-then the great song of the thousand voices consisted only of a single word: Om, perfection.

"I knew this," He said softly. "You will go into the forest?"
"I am going into the forest; I am going into Oneness," said Vasudeva, radiant.

From Govinda:

"Seeking means having a goal. Finding means being free, being open, having no goal. For striving to reach your goal, you overlook things that lie close before your eyes."

"Wisdom cannot be passed on. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to pass on always sounds like foolishness."

"One can pass on knowledge but not wisdom. One can find wisdom, one can live it, one can be supported by it, one can work wonders with it, but one cannot speak it or teach it."

I hope you enjoy these quotes! Good night!

Vampire, Great Courage, Sargasso Sea, Quote

This week's reads: Wide Sargasso Sea, Vampire Darcy's Desire, A Curse as Dark as Gold

Despite my disappointment with the Regina Jeffer's previous novel, I actually found Vampire Darcy's Desire (also by her) to be an amusing read. In it, Elizabeth and Darcy are immediately enthralled with each other. However, Darcy is a half-vampire half-human, due to a curse passed on down the family line to the firstborn sons and Darcy vows to end the line. Until he meets Elizabeth. They marry and she is determined that they end the curse. Wickham is an evil vampire, and Lydia Bennett gets caught up as a vampire. Georgiana and Darcy's cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam also play major roles. The only major downfall to this novel is that Mr. Collins does not appear and Charlotte, Jane, the rest of the Bennett family, and the Gardiners do not make many appearances. It is mainly about the hunt for Wickham and their forbidden love.

A Curse as Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce is the story of Charlotte Miller, who runs a woolen mill with her sister Rosie, friend Harte, and husband Randall.  But debts loom over them. Jack Spinner comes along with help, in exchange for what Charlotte values most. She must fight to save the mill and family, and solve the family curse, with great courage, because great courage breaks ill luck. This is possibly one of my favorites. I love how Bunce takes the story of Rumplestilskin and "the miller's daughter" and weaves them together with a curse and family pasts.

Wide Sargasso Sea is by Jean Rhys and is the story of the madwomen in the attic in Jane Eyre, Antoinette Cosway. Antoinette lives in the Caribbean with her mad mother, the maid she looks up to Christophine, stepfather and brother. Slavery has been abolished and Antoinette's father was a slaveholder, causing her family to be hated in the town. One day a fire destroys the house, takes her mother away, and kills her brother.  Antoinette is married to Rochester, from England, who finds out the story of her mother and begins to hate his wife. Fire, hate, pride, madness, dreams, and drunkenness are themes. It's called Sargasso Sea because of the seaweed growth in the ocean. An interesting read.

I have begun reading Siddhartha, which I find to be very interesting.


“It is life that shakes and rock us; it is literature which stabilizes and confirms.”

-Heathcote William Garrod, The Profession of Poetry and Other Lectures (1929)