White Teeth by Zadie Smith
'Every little trifle, for some reason, does seem incalculably important today, and when you say of a thing "nothing hangs on it" it sounds like blasphemy. There's never any knowing - how am I to put it? - which of our actions, which of our idleness won't have things hanging on it forever.'
This post will mostly be quotes from the book that I put in my commonplace book. I started reading this book in October of 2019 and rated it 3 of 5 stars on Goodreads.
Chapter 1
'This is what divorce is: taking things you don't want from people you no longer love.'
'He had decided instead to mortify his own flesh, to take his own life, to free himself from a path that had taken him down numerous wrong turns, led him deep into the wilderness and finally petered out completely, its breadcrumb course gobbled up by the birds.'
'A dull childhood, a bad marriage, a dead-end job - the classic triumvirate - they all flicked by quickly, silently, with little dialog, feeling pretty much the same as they did the first time around.'
"Go home, get some rest. Marnin' de the world new, everytime. Man . . . dif life no easy!" - Clara
Chapter 2
'For ridding oneself of faith is like boiling sea water to retrieve the salt - something is gained but something is lost.'
'Walk in white with Him: for [she] was worthy.' Revelation 3:4
Chapter 5
'It was awkward, an Indian telling on Englishman what to do - but somehow the quietness of it, the manliness of it, got them over it. It was during this time that Archie learnt the true power of do-it-yourself, how it uses a hammer and nails to replace nouns and adjectives, how it allows men to communicate. A lesson he kept with him all his life.'
"What I have realized, is that the generations, they spoke to each other, Jones. It's not a line, life is not a line - this is not palm reading - it's a circle, and they speak to us. That is why you cannot read fate, you must experience it." - Samad
Chapter 6
'The cricket test - which side do you cheer for? . . . Are you still looking back to where you came from or where you are?' Norman Tebbit
What if it's the same place? Like in my situation? Then I guess there are no opposing teams!
"The sky isn't blue. There's just white light. White light has all the colors of the rainbow in it , and when it scattered through the squillions of molecules in the sky, the short wave colors blue, violet - they are the ones you see. The sky isn't really blue. It just looks that way. It's called Rayleigh Scattering." Magid
Chapter 7
'They are the only part of the body that a man must grow into. Because they're your father's teeth, you see, wisdom teeth are passed down by the father, I'm certain of it. So you must be big enough for them.'
Chapter 9
"Either everything is sacred or nothing is." Alsana
Chapter 15
'It was important, in Hortense's presence, never to admit to illness. The cure, as in most Jamaican households, was always more painful than the symptoms.'
Chapter 17
'What was it about this unlovable century that convinced us we were , despite everything, eminently lovable as a people, as a species? What made us think that anyone who fails to love us is damaged, lacking, malfunctioning in some way? And particularly if they replace us with a god, or weeping Madonna, or the face of Christ in a ciabatta roll - then we call them crazy. Deluded. Regressive. We are so convinced of the goodness of ourselves, and the goodness of our love, we cannot bear to believe that there might be something more worthy of love than us, more worthy of worship.'
There are many people that are this way, they don't understand when people don't love them, something must be wrong with the other person. I for one am not that way and don't understand that line of thinking. I try to instill that into my son. I have told him before and will tell him again, not everyone is going to like you, and that is perfectly okay.
Chapter 19
'But the world happens to you, thought Joshua, you don't happen to the world. There's nothing you can do.'
I wrote after the quotes, book was okay, 3 of 5 stars.
This post will mostly be quotes from the book that I put in my commonplace book. I started reading this book in October of 2019 and rated it 3 of 5 stars on Goodreads.
Chapter 1
'This is what divorce is: taking things you don't want from people you no longer love.'
'He had decided instead to mortify his own flesh, to take his own life, to free himself from a path that had taken him down numerous wrong turns, led him deep into the wilderness and finally petered out completely, its breadcrumb course gobbled up by the birds.'
'A dull childhood, a bad marriage, a dead-end job - the classic triumvirate - they all flicked by quickly, silently, with little dialog, feeling pretty much the same as they did the first time around.'
"Go home, get some rest. Marnin' de the world new, everytime. Man . . . dif life no easy!" - Clara
Chapter 2
'For ridding oneself of faith is like boiling sea water to retrieve the salt - something is gained but something is lost.'
'Walk in white with Him: for [she] was worthy.' Revelation 3:4
Chapter 5
'It was awkward, an Indian telling on Englishman what to do - but somehow the quietness of it, the manliness of it, got them over it. It was during this time that Archie learnt the true power of do-it-yourself, how it uses a hammer and nails to replace nouns and adjectives, how it allows men to communicate. A lesson he kept with him all his life.'
"What I have realized, is that the generations, they spoke to each other, Jones. It's not a line, life is not a line - this is not palm reading - it's a circle, and they speak to us. That is why you cannot read fate, you must experience it." - Samad
Chapter 6
'The cricket test - which side do you cheer for? . . . Are you still looking back to where you came from or where you are?' Norman Tebbit
What if it's the same place? Like in my situation? Then I guess there are no opposing teams!
"The sky isn't blue. There's just white light. White light has all the colors of the rainbow in it , and when it scattered through the squillions of molecules in the sky, the short wave colors blue, violet - they are the ones you see. The sky isn't really blue. It just looks that way. It's called Rayleigh Scattering." Magid
Chapter 7
'They are the only part of the body that a man must grow into. Because they're your father's teeth, you see, wisdom teeth are passed down by the father, I'm certain of it. So you must be big enough for them.'
Chapter 9
"Either everything is sacred or nothing is." Alsana
Chapter 15
'It was important, in Hortense's presence, never to admit to illness. The cure, as in most Jamaican households, was always more painful than the symptoms.'
Chapter 17
'What was it about this unlovable century that convinced us we were , despite everything, eminently lovable as a people, as a species? What made us think that anyone who fails to love us is damaged, lacking, malfunctioning in some way? And particularly if they replace us with a god, or weeping Madonna, or the face of Christ in a ciabatta roll - then we call them crazy. Deluded. Regressive. We are so convinced of the goodness of ourselves, and the goodness of our love, we cannot bear to believe that there might be something more worthy of love than us, more worthy of worship.'
There are many people that are this way, they don't understand when people don't love them, something must be wrong with the other person. I for one am not that way and don't understand that line of thinking. I try to instill that into my son. I have told him before and will tell him again, not everyone is going to like you, and that is perfectly okay.
Chapter 19
'But the world happens to you, thought Joshua, you don't happen to the world. There's nothing you can do.'
I wrote after the quotes, book was okay, 3 of 5 stars.
Comments
Post a Comment