on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Rating: 4/5
Started: 19 August
Finished: 24 August
Summary:
In 18th Century France, Addie LaRue is offered a deal by the devil: to be free, to be unfettered, to live her life as she wishes. To escape her impending marriage and the world too small for her, she agrees to the bargain, promising her soul when she is done. But, of course, there is a complication: no one remembers her once she is out of their sight. And so she drifts, invisible, though the world.
In New York City, three hundred years later, Addie is still living. She's learned all the rules of her bargain; has grown resignedly accustomed to her peculiar life, if not comfortable, content. Then she walks into a book store. Then, someone remembers her.
What is the price of sharing your story?
Thoughts:
This book has the — pardon my language — vibe of walking alone through a bohemian city just before sunrise. Sepia tones and loneliness and thought that makes the loneliness not so aching, after all. This book wasn't the earthquake that was promised, but it was beautiful. The words were precise yet soft, the story gentle and original and familiar. It wasn't YA, didn't have bright characters or relationships or moments of definition. Instead, it was more a history of moments. Sad despite not really being sad at all. And the ending. I can't place it. All my words are gone. But it was something, Bittersweet without really ever being sad or happy. Rit was perfect.
Words:
Legerdemain (n) skillful use of one's hands when performing conjuring tricks; deception, trickery
Belying (v) failing to give a true notion or impression of something; disguising or contradiction; failing to justify something
Palimpsest (n) a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces still remain
Arrondissements (n) subdivision of a French department, for local government administration
Worsted (n) a fine smooth yarn spun from combined, long-staple wool
Terrine (n) a meat, fish, or vegetable mixture that has been cooked or otherwise prepared in advance and allowed to cool or set in it's container, typically served in slices
Gyro (n) a greek dish made from rotisserie meat (YEE-row)
Lexicons (n) the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge
Bestiaries (n) a descriptive or anecdotal treatise on various real or mythical kinds of animals, especially a medieval work with a moralizing tone
Tenure (n) the holding of an office; guaranteed permanent employment, especially as a teacher or professor, after a probationary period
Adjunct (n) a thing. added to something else as a supplementary rather than an essential part
Dissemination (n) the act of spreading something, especially information, widely
Dissent (n) the expression or holding of opinions at variance with those previously, commonly, or officially held; refusal to accept doctrines of an established or orthodox church
Patina (n) a green or brown film on the surface of bronze or similar metals, produced by oxidization over a long period of time
Ephemeral (adj) lasting for a very short time
Perdition (n) a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which sinful and unpenitent people pass after death (in Christian theology)