The Handmaid’s Tale
24 Nov 2007 Comments Off
in allusion, simile, The Handmaid's Tale
“There remains a mirror, on the hall wall. If I turn my head so that the white wings framing my face direct my vision towards it, I can see as I go down the stairs, round, convex, a pier glass, like the eye of a fish, and myself in it like a distorted shadow, a parody of something, some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is the same as danger. A Sister, dipped in blood.”
from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood pg. 11
The Time Traveler’s Wife
11 Oct 2007 Comments Off
in allusion, art, The Time Traveler's Wife
“The compelling thing about art – or making anything, I suppose – is the moment when the vaporous, insubstantial idea becomes a solid there, a substance in the world of substances. Circe, Nimbue, Artemis, Athena, all the sorceresses: they must have known the feeling as they transformed mere men into fabulous creatures, stole the secrets of the magicians, disposed armies: ah, look, there it is, a new thing. Call it a swine, a war, a laurel tree. Call it art. The magic I can make is small magic now, deferred magic. Every day I work, but nothing ever materializes. I feel like Penelope, weaving and unweaving.”
from The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger pg. 284
