Wanted to share this quote with you from Anne Enright’s The Gathering:
“I love this undertaker. He has that thing that young people got, sometime after I grew up. He does not pretend. He does not judge. He talks about the caskets in a ‘whatever’ sort of way, like it is all just shopping–the real questions are elsewhere.”
What a lovely, original, and novelistic dichotomy Enright allows to emerge from the personality of this character.
And another reminder to ground myself in what’s important as I scurry around for those last few gifts.
8 Comments
December 20, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Enright is brilliant. The Gathering is one of my favorite novels. I’ve read it twice and am sure I’ll read it again and again.
December 22, 2009 at 10:04 am
Darrelyn, I look forward to reading The Gathering a second time as well. I have so many underlined passages.
December 21, 2009 at 8:40 am
Thank you for the reminder of how perfect Enright’s observations are – I too loved The Gathering and your post is well-timed as I draw up my winter reading list. Or, in this case, my rereading list.
December 22, 2009 at 10:38 am
Julie, nice to see you here again! I’m always tilting my head at odd angles to see what other people are reading, but I hardly ever plan beyond the next book. I’d love to know what’s on your reading/rereading list for this winter.
December 21, 2009 at 9:42 am
Two helpful adages, especially during the holidays: don’t sweat the small stuff; it’s all small stuff.
December 23, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Thanks for the reminder : )
December 21, 2009 at 10:42 am
What a perfect quotation to place the holiday shopping in context! Good luck getting it all done.
December 23, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Sarah, I thought so too. And almost done! Getting ready to make a cup of tea and read for a while.