His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the
universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon
all the living and the dead.
-James Joyce
I don't need fine wines, aged single malt whiskeys, rare cheeses, or any other obscure delectable delights for my tongue when I have the finely crafted words of brilliant writers.
Take a sentence like the one above and roll it around in your mouth. Speak it slowly, savoring the rhythm and the flow.
This is what is means to devour books. You can read to fill up your time just as easily as you can eat to fill your stomach. Or you can read to taste the flavors of human thought, human expression, and human experience.
A good sentence will satisfy me for days.
If you run across a particularly tasty one, drop me a line.
9 comments:
The alliteration is amusing at first, but then "falling faintly through the universe" makes you listen closely as the rest of the sentence lightly taps the nails into the coffin lid.
My offering for you kind Abercorn:
"The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea."
- Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, Ch. 1
Now that is a delicious sentence indeed. I can hear the river babbling stories on its way to the ocean. The whole sentence is a wonderful characterization of a river and the hypnotizing effect it has if you listen to it.
I love all the many verses of tha Lady of Shallot. Here is just one:
But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often through the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot:
Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed;
"I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott.
No fresh sentences to offer the moment, but the one you've posted is marvelous so full of alliteration that I had to read and re-read it to get the rhythms just right. (sent here by Savannah)
“Everybody gets told to write about what they know. The trouble with many of us is that at the earlier stages of life we think we know everything- or to put it more usefully, we are often unaware of the scope and structure of our ignorance.”
― Thomas Pynchon, Slow Learner: Early Stories
I'm also currently in love with this little gem from Werner Herzog: "Your paycheck is under the guillotine."
This one has always made me happy as well:
"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."- Douglas Adams, The Restaurant At the End of The Universe
The verse from Lady of Shalott is wonderful - I've never read it, but I like how the rhythm in this one drew me in and then surprised me with "I am half sick of shadows". I think rhymed verse is very good at surprises and sneak attacks.
As is Werner Herzog! I read the letter to his cleaning lady and the last line is indeed perfect. Though I also liked, "The situation regarding spoons remains unchanged. If I see one, I will kill it."
Well you, did choose what is perhaps the best sentence in modern literature.
I have a favourite opening in a novel but it is two sentences - "Edith loves him. More on this later." - Robert Walser 'The Robber.' Cracks me up every time.
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