Quotes Archives - Page 4 of 7 - The Patient Poppy

June 25, 2023May 7, 2023

The unexpected

This is a quote from the book The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

The Left Hand of Darkness – Summary

Here is the book summary:

Ursula K. Le Guin’s groundbreaking work of science fiction—winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters…

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.

More details can be found here on Goodreads and on Storygraph.

June 11, 2023May 7, 2023

Battle of good vs evil

This is a quote from the book The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – Summary

Here is the book summary:

Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida—war photographer, gambler, and closet queen—has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka.

Ten years after his prize-winning novel Chinaman established him as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost authors, Shehan Karunatilaka is back with a “thrilling satire” (Economist) and rip-roaring state-of-the-nation epic that offers equal parts mordant wit and disturbing, profound truths.

You can find more details here on Goodreads and on StoryGraph.

June 4, 2023May 7, 2023

Boredom

This is a quote from the essay Notes on Camp by Susan Sontag.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

Notes on Camp – Summary

Here is the book summary:

‘The ultimate Camp statement: it’s good because it’s awful.’

These two classic essays were the first works of criticism to break down the boundaries between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, and made Susan Sontag a literary sensation.

Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Stevie Smith; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York’s underground scene to the farthest reaches of outerspace.

More details can be found here on Goodreads and on Storygraph.

May 28, 2023May 7, 2023

Languages are more than just words

This is a quote from the book Babel by R.F. Kuang.

Quote by R.F. Kuang, “Languages aren’t just made of words. They’re modes of looking at the world. They’re the keys to civilization. And that’s knowledge worth killing for.”

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

Babel – Summary

Here is the book summary:

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

More details can be found here on Goodreads and on Storygraph.

May 21, 2023May 7, 2023

Peerless splendor

This is a quote from the book The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

The Three-Body Problem – Summary

Here is the book summary:

Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion.

Translated by: Ken Liu

You can find more details here on Goodreads and on StoryGraph.

May 14, 2023March 8, 2023

Anything had the potential

This is a quote from the book Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

Little Fires Everywhere – Summary

Here is the book summary from Goodreads:

Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother- who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town – and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia’s past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost . . .

You can find more details here on Goodreads and on StoryGraph.

May 7, 2023March 8, 2023

A heart has no shape

This is a quote from the book The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

The Memory Police – Summary

Here is the book summary from Goodreads:

On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses—until things become much more serious. Most of the island’s inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.

When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.

A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.

Translated by: Stephen Snyder

You can find more details here on Goodreads and on StoryGraph.

April 30, 2023April 15, 2023

I would go into the forest…

This is a quote from the book Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Summary

Here is the book summary from Goodreads:

One of Poland’s most imaginative and lyrical writers, Olga Tokarczuk presents us with a detective story with a twist in Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. After her two dogs go missing and members of the local hunting club are found murdered, teacher and animal rights activist Janina Duszejko becomes involved in the ensuing investigation. Part magic realism, part detective story, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead is suspenseful and entertaining reimagining of the genre interwoven with poignant and insightful commentaries on our perceptions of madness, marginalised people and animal rights.

Translated by: Antonia Lloyd-Jones

You can find more details here on Goodreads and on StoryGraph.

April 23, 2023March 8, 2023

You must remember to come back

This is a quote from The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

The House on Mango Street – Summary

Here is the book summary from Goodreads:

Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero.

Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous–it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.

You can find more details here on Goodreads and on StoryGraph.

April 16, 2023April 15, 2023

Live in these books

This is a quote from the book Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Charlie Louth.

Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

If you’re interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.

Letter to a Young Poet – Summary

Here is the book summary from Goodreads:

A hugely influential collection for writers and artists of all kinds, Rilke’s profound and lyrical letters to a young friend advise on writing, love, sex, suffering and the nature of advice itself.

Translated by: Charlie Louth

More details on Goodreads can be found here.

Category: Quotes

The unexpected

The Left Hand of Darkness – Summary

Like this:

Battle of good vs evil

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – Summary

Like this:

Boredom

Notes on Camp – Summary

Like this:

Languages are more than just words

Babel – Summary

Like this:

Peerless splendor

The Three-Body Problem – Summary

Like this:

Anything had the potential

Little Fires Everywhere – Summary

Like this:

A heart has no shape

The Memory Police – Summary

Like this:

I would go into the forest…

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Summary

Like this:

You must remember to come back

The House on Mango Street – Summary

Like this:

Live in these books

Letter to a Young Poet – Summary

Like this:

The Left Hand of Darkness – Summary

Share this:

Like this:

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – Summary

Share this:

Like this:

Notes on Camp – Summary

Share this:

Like this:

Babel – Summary

Share this:

Like this:

The Three-Body Problem – Summary

Share this:

Like this:

Little Fires Everywhere – Summary

Share this:

Like this:

The Memory Police – Summary

Share this:

Like this:

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead – Summary

Share this:

Like this:

The House on Mango Street – Summary

Share this:

Like this:

Letter to a Young Poet – Summary

Share this:

Like this: