"But why can't the language for creativity be the language of regeneration?"

"The girl, her ear pressed to the woman's chest, listens as if eavesdropping behind a door."

"On the one hand, the ugly American, who did not care what he ate so long as he ate too much of it, especially gigantic slabs of still-bleeding red meat. On the other hand, the chic Frenchman, who preferred the refined cruelty of foie gras."

" . . . Our culture, even the culture of our faith, has helped anesthetize the feminine spirit."

"This woman will become pregnant with herself, with the symbolic female-child who will, if given the chance, grow up to reinvent the woman's life."

Life goal: Beauty

"The bedroom was cruelly cold. As she threw the bed clothes heroically aside Selina decided that it took an appalling amount of courage-- this life that Simeon Peake had called a great adventure."

I'm giving this book a pick rating despite it's length and the fact that I'm actually not sure what it is about. The high rating is for the shockingly true insights on love and human nature peppered unexpectedly throughout the too-long text that would knock my feet out from under me and demand that I stop, re-read, ponder and share.

"And as for penance, there had been no crime for which I should do it. My only crime was being a man and living in the world of men, and you don't have to do special penance for that. The crime and the penance, in that case, coincide perfectly. They are identical."

". . . So you create yourself by creating another person, who, however, has also created you. . ."

"But I knew how the play would come out. This was like a dress rehearsal after the show had closed down. I stood there and felt like God-Almighty brooding on History."

"And if that is the case, then their life history is a process of discovering what they really are, and not as for you and me, sons of luck, a process of becoming what luck makes us."

"He was just another fellow, made in God's image and wearing a white shirt with a ready-tied black now tie and jean pants held up with web calluses. Town from the waist up, country from the waist down. Get both votes."

"You and your conscience could just go off arm in arm and have a fine time telling each other how much you think of each other."

". . . in the middle of the day maybe with the sunshine bright and the air so still it aches like the place where the tooth was on the morning after you've been to the dentist or aches like your heart in the bosom when you stand on the street corner waiting for the light to change and happen to recollect how things once were and how they might have been yet if what happened had not happened."

This book hooked me immediately and the depiction of white class distinctions in southern Appalachia lent some depth to the fantastical premise. Incredibly well preformed by actress Marin Ireland. A quick read that was sharp and touching.

The pacing at the beginning matched the acceleration of it's protagonist's success. Dressler's unceasing drive toward newness is a characteristic which Millhauser rendered beautifully. The relationship between Dressler and the sisters slowed the story in unsatisfying and bewildering ways. Ultimately, the optimism of turn-of-the-century New York dissolves; and while it feels accurate it also feels anticlimactic.

"Was there then something wrong with him, that he couldn't just rest content? Must he always be dreaming up improvements? And it seemed to Martin that if only he could imagine something else, something great, something greater, something as great as the whole world, then he might rest a while."

"A lot of times when I think I'm learning to be self sufficient, I'm really just learning to live without the things that I need."

Tender, moving intermingling of indigenous wisdom with botany. It spoke to my brain and my spirit equally. Special surprise, I grew up down the street from Onondaga Lake and I adored the connection I felt to the author as a fellow CNY neighbor.

"You're the kind of man you damn well want to make yourself," Martin said, surprised by the sharpness in his voice.

I'll try again someday but just couldn't connect this time. 😔

Beautiful and heartbreaking. Exactly how I like to learn my history.

'You must never behave as if your life belongs to a man. Do you hear me?' Aunty Ifeka said. 'Your life belongs to you and you alone, soso gi (only you).'

A book that felt "now" with a touch of the mystery thriller vibe. Most times the contemporary social commentary felt smoothly integrated into a well-paced story. Nothing life changing, but a good read.

"My soul's often wondered how I got over . . ."

What a start!

I just finished listening to this little book. It has a compelling premise and draws you in quickly. It's a bit superficial (not helped by the valley girl voice Hilty gives to the protagonist's bff) but strikes a nice balance of thoughtfulness and entertainment.

This starts as a tale of the American bread basket as one expects from Cather and morphs into a thoughtful, tender sort of war story. Cather reveals human nature and earthly truths with genuine grace and ease every time.

Life was so short that it meant nothing at all unless it were continually reinforced by something that endured; unless the shadows of individual existence came went against a background that held together.

A fascinating premise well executed.

Interesting formally. Somehow both too epic and not epic enough.