Books on the Wall blog posts featuring books quotes in either graphical or deep dive format.
This quote comes from Celeste Ng’s recent novel, Everything I Never Told You. Though the plot primarily focuses on what happened to a missing teenage girl named Lydia, the story really deals with themes of family, culture, and identity (and especially how these three aspects of life interact). The novel explores the sometimes tragic distance between what we say and what we mean and who we are and who others think we are. We just finished the novel and would definitely recommend it as a quick but deeply affecting read. He can guess, but he won’t ever know, not really. What […]
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Today’s Words Wednesday quote comes from Charles Dickens’ Little Dorrit, published between 1855 and 1857. Like most of Dickens’ work, Little Dorrit explores themes of poverty, class, and expectations in Victorian England. “Looking back upon his own poor story, she was its vanishing-point. Every thing in its perspective led to her innocent figure. He had travelled thousands of miles towards it; previous unquiet hopes and doubts had worked themselves out before it; it was the centre of the interest of his life; it was the termination of everything that was good and pleasant in it; beyond, there was nothing but […]
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This quote comes from William Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Believed to have been written in the late 1500s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows the adventures of four young Athenians as they fall in and out of love in a remote forest controlled by fairies. This text is spoken by Lysander to Hermia, describing the travails of impossible love. “Or, if there were a sympathy in choice, War, death, or sickness, did lay siege to it, Making it momentary as a sound, Swift as a shadow, short as any dream; Brief as the lightning in the collied night That, […]
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This quote comes from Leo Tolstoy’s famous novel, Anna Karenina, which was published in installments over four years, from 1873 to 1877. Anna Karenina follows the life of the titular character, an upperclass woman in feudalist Russia. Acclaimed for its themes of love, family, marriage, and society, Anna Karenina is commonly named among the most important written works of all time. “All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.” Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
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This quote comes from Flannery O’Connor’s acclaimed novel, Wise Blood. Published in 1952, Wise Blood, like so many of O’Connor’s work, explores dark themes of life, death, and religion in the American South. Wise Blood was Flannery O’Connor’s first novel and was comprised of several previously written short stories, including her master’s thesis. “In yourself right now is the only place you’ve got.” Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood
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Published in 1818 when Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was only 20 years old, Frankenstein follows the young scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein as he mysteriously and miraculously creates life. The resulting monster is often called Frankenstein, though in the novel, he actually no name. Frankenstein is considered to be among the first science fiction novels, blending elements of Romantic and Gothic writing with science and technology. Check out our full-text Frankenstein poster here or at the Books on the Wall Etsy shop! “Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful.” Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein
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This quote comes from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun. Published in 2006, Half of a Yellow Sun follows two Igbo sisters, Olanna and Kainene, as their lives change before, during, and after the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970). The novel is named after the design on the flag of Biafra, the region that seceded from Nigeria. In 2007, Half of a Yellow Sun won the Orange Prize for Fiction.
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This quote is a translation of one of Victor Hugo’s poems. “Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings.” Victor Hugo
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This quote comes from George Eliot’s Middlemarch. Did you know that George Eliot was a woman? “George Eliot” was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, a British journalist and author. Published in volumes from 1871 to 1872, Middlemarch follows several characters living in the fictional town of Middlemarch. Often considered one of the best novels of all time, Middlemarch deals with many themes common to British literature of that period: societal roles, expectations of women, and the role of marriage. “Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a […]
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This quote comes from Jonathan Safran Foer’s 2005 novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This novel follows the journey of Oskar Schell, a precocious 9-year-old who is searching for clues about his recently deceased father. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close artfully blends humor and tragedy to explore themes of heritage, identity and loss. Jonathan Safran Foer has recently announced his upcoming novel, Here I Am, to be released in September 2016. “I looked at everyone and wondered where they came from, and who they missed, and what they were sorry for.” Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
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