Number of pages: 211
Number of reading days: 1 (during my morning commute... another fast read.)
Why I read this book: I think I saw this book on a reading list somewhere, recognized the author (David Levithan co-wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green), and was intrigued by the lexiconic novel. It's been on my reading list for over a year now.
Thoughts: I just adored the format of this novel. I've read one another dictionary novel (The Dictionary of the Khazars--highly recommended unless you don't like post-modernism literature, non-linear plots, or feeling like a crazy person while reading) and this form is really starting to interest me. (Anyone have other lexiconic novel recommendations?) I liked that the narrator could tell an entire love story with words and small moments. Sometimes he would use repeat "definitions" for different words, often omitting or adding more information from the couple's story.
I think this method of story-telling really captures the complexity of love and relationships.
Favorite Passages & Quotes:
aloof, adj. : "It has always been my habit, ever since junior high school, to ask that question: 'What are you thinking?' It is an act of desperation, and I keep on asking, even though I know it will never work the way I want it to."
autonomy, n. : "'I want my books to have their own shelves,' you said, and that's how I knew it would be okay to live together."
blemish, n. : "The slight acne scars. The penny-sized, penny-shaped birthmark right above your knee. The dot below your shoulder that must have been from when you had chicken pox in third grade. The scratch on your neck -- did I do that?
This brief transcript of moments, written on the body, is so deeply satisfying to read."
healthy, adj. : "There are times when I'm alone that I think, This is it. This is actually the natural state. All I need are my thoughts and my small acts of creation and my ability to go or do whatever I want to go or do. I am myself, and that is the point. Pairing is a social construction. It is by no means necessary for everyone to do it. Maybe I'm better like this. Maybe I could live life in my own world, and the simply leave it when it's time to go."
incessant, adj. : "The doubts. You had to save me from my constant doubts. That deep-seeded feeling that I wasn't good enough for anything -- I was a fake at my job, I wasn't your equal, my friends would forget me if I moved for a month. It wasn't as easy as hearing voices -- nobody telling me this. It was just something I knew. Everyone else was playing along, but I was sure that one day they would all stop."
ineffable, adj. : "These words will ultimately end up being the barest of reflections, devoide of the sensations words cannot convey. Trying to write about love is ultimately like trying to have a dictionary represent life. No matter how many words there are, there will never be enough."
love, n. : "I'm not going to even try."
motif, n. : "You don't love me as much as I love you. You don't love me as much as I love you. You don't love me as much as I love you."
For other books I'm reading this summer, see: Summer Reading List 2012
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