Back to the Meme

I've been skipping my homework lately. I was too sad to post on Friday, and I suppose that sadness lingered over the weekend. Still, it is time to take back life and hug it a little closer, to embrace family and friends. These are the most important of all.

Today's assignment is "Your favorite quote from your favorite book." Are you sick of Jane Eyre yet? Because that is my favorite. And I love this quote:

“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! — I have as much soul as you — and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal — as we are!” 

In this passage, the passion and spirit inside Jane's pale, obedient body bubbles up as she confronts Mr. Rochester. I love that a woman speaks so to a male, and to a "superior" - no humility here. This fairly sings with freedom and pride, and to my mind, it is remarkable that a schoolteacher on a Yorkshire moor should write it.

As for my Indie book, I have to go back to The Prospect of My Arrival again. It's difficult to choose one quote, but I really fell in love with the jellyfish:

Dwight Okita, the author

"He and his mother now stand before the Aquarium windows. As they leave this place, jellyfish descend in slow motion like parachutes onto the bright coral reefs below them. Prospect thinks of the parachutes that people cling to as they drop from the sky. How a good parachute can save your life… and how a bad one is like having no parachute at all. "

The writing is very simple, and in fact Prospect received several poor reviews because of that simplicity. To me, however, the sentences were lovely and nearly glowed with artistry, as in this short section. 

I wonder what Prospect would have thought of the events of Friday.