I finally reached Part Two. Yay!
“Writing is about learning to pay attention and to communicate what is going on.” ~p. 97
Ahhh. Details. My favorite part, and at the same time it is also my least favorite.
As much as I adore Dickens’ attention to details, I hate it because to me it’s just like beating around the bush (seriously, English. Don’t you have a simpler and easier word for this? We call ‘beating around the bush’ as bertele-tele in Indonesian. That simple).
I admire how Dickens were able to put a thorough description about rain in his Little Dorrit, and at the same time hate it.
“In the country the rain would have developed a thousand fresh scents, and every drop would have had its bright association with some beautiful form of growth or life. In the City it developed only foul stale smells, and was a sickly, lukewarm, dirt-stained, wretched addition to the gutters.” ~Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.
But again, I suppose, it’s what makes the book even more intriguing, and interesting.
And I thought I also said that I love metaphors.
And isn’t that why I love The Crimson Petal and The White so much?
“I honestly think in order to be a writer, you have to learn to be reverent. If not, why are you writing? Why are you here?” ~p. 99
“Let’s think of reverence as awe, as presence in and openness to the world.” ~p. 99
Boy, much to learn. Much to learn. Still got much to learn, indeed.
“To be engrossed by something outside ourselves is a powerful antidote for the rational mind, the mind that so frequently has its head up its own ass–seeing things in such a narrow and darkly narcissistic way that it presents a colo-rectal theology, offering hope to no one.” ~p. 102
So… basically, or put it in another way, it would hopefully cure my skeptical mind?
“Perhaps I should have just drowned myself while I bathe later.”
Then after the tub was filled, she took off her clothes and jumped in.
She felt the warmth of the water and she felt surprisingly comfortable. So she closed her eyes for a while.
Then she opened her eyes.
She stared blankly at her legs as she sat on the tub. She wrapped her hands around her legs in the water as she lay her chin on her knees.
Now that I reread it, maybe I should put a lot more detail into it.
Dang.
Much to learn. Still much to learn.
A Bunch of Nonsense 