Friday, April 15, 2011

between dreaming and waking

Two posts in one day - don't blame me! Just catching up!
Day 06- A Book that makes you cry – Time Traveller’s Wife
Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveller's Wife

Eilidh (i.e. someone I love very muchly) and I both commenced this silly challenge on the first day. We're alike in strange ways, considering the fact that she detests fantasy (I KNOW, I -KNOW-, see the wtf picture in my last post. It's necessary. But I'm working on that - she just finished The Hunger Games series and I'm hopefully getting her started on The Mortal Instruments series in the near future.) </tangent> She had this as her favourite book, which kind of vetoed me from having it, so I found an appropriate place to put it in this stupid list.

This book makes me bawl, pretty much from the word go. Simple equation: Henry + Claire = love. lovelovelovelovelove LOVEACROSSTHEDECADESWhatThe!? It's so emotionally draining, but then the height of their joy only serves to reinforce the depth of their sorrow. My pharmacology lecturer once said that people who have Mania have been known to say that they wouldn't give it up, simply because their highs are so good, that the lows are worth it - that's the price they pay. You kind of get that same feeling, just because what they have is fragile, endearing, all-consuming and greater than some basic urge to replicate - the kind of love that weathers life-times without fizzling out.

The movie's okay, I guess. I mean, I cried my way through that too, but mainly because I knew what was going to happen. If anything, the cinematography was kind of pretty.

6. A Song You Would Like Played At Your Funeral



I guess this would be pretty popular, as far as these things go. If you mindlessly follow read Thought Catalogue, you sheep! Don't worry, I'm one too, you would identify Amelie is one of those movies you loved when you were young and impressionable. I guess I can kind of qualify for that still, but I can't remove myself from how much I loved it back then. Yann Tiersen* is a genius, and I have his whole discography tucked into my iTunes. I've studied to this for years, and it worked incredibly well... until I got to the stage where I started humming the harmonies, and working in the crescendos and key changes and god-knows-what. (Me humming is not something you want to experience - it sounds like someone's fed a cane toad a whoopee cushion, and then they're proceeding to run over it several times with their car... )

It reminds me of France, and of Europe in general. Of experiencing dusk in picturesque little villages with cobbled streets, just after gorging yourself on a picnic of fresh berries and brie and still-warm bread. Fireflies and the last vestiges of summer, its grace lingering on in the wild-flowers scenting the air. Feeling every last cell in you hum with life, belonging - you are content.

Hills near Grasse, French Riviera

Bad photo, but it's the feeling I had when trying to take it that got me. This is the drive to Grasse from Nice, in the French Riveria. Grasse is this tiny town that hosts Fragonard (the perfumery) and is notorious for housing the exiled Princess of Monaco. This princess, if I recall correctly, tried to assassinate her brother and thus was banned from the country. (Fun Fact: Monaco is a principality, so there's no Kings/Queens/etc, the highest title is "Prince" - currently held by Albert the II.)

Adrian Johnston is also brilliant; he did the soundtrack for Brideshead Revisited. Check him out if you enjoy the instrumental side of life.

*Am I the only one who has noticed a passing resemblance between him and Neil Gaiman

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