Bringing in 2022 with a good book: My Life As a Rat
by Joyce Carol Oates
Ending the year by reading
— My Life As A Rat — and wrapping things up in my book journal. Being still and quiet and thoughtful and peaceful with good words and sentences well-put. Joyce Carol Oates is one of the authors on my bucket list; trying to keep up with her prolific output is fun.Quotes from this luscious, and painful, novel:
My wish is to live a life in which emotions come slowly as clouds on a calm day. You see the approach, you contemplate the beauty of the cloud, you observe it passing, you let it go. You do not dwell upon what you have seen, you do not regret it. You are content to understand that the identical cloud will never come again, no matter how beautiful, unique. You do not weep at its loss.
The intimacy of silence is natural to you. You know how harsh and abrasive speech can be, to the wounded. Better silence until the right words come.
His smile is a shriek of pain.
My Life As a Rat at TheStoryGraph (which I prefer to Goodreads, by the by–here’s my profile, please feel free to follow me), which shows topics and content warnings, so you can decide if you want to read it. Sharing this because this is a very tough read, with topics such as child sexual abuse.
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