Gotta love a book that starts out with a drinking author. My favorite kind of character.
Are the parts of the book called "phases" to represent the four primary phases of the moon?
I really love the story of Gulietta and Prince Charming. Up until this point I was having a difficult time putting all the names and characters together but this set of chapters helped me out.
The bit where the princess is explaining how no birth control works for her, and how she was beginning to feel that the world's attempt to prevent what is natural (child birth) almost feels like it is also taking away from the romance that is love and sex - made me think of Jessica so much. Just up until the Princess decided celibacy was the perfect life choice.
I went through a phase like the Princess did, trying to be overly mature as if to prove something. Didn't work well for me - I expect it won't work well for her either.
Is it true that you can't bring anything to Hawaii that might affect the natural ecosystem?
I find it funny that a Blonde was telling a Redhead that Redheads are evil and get their read hair from sweets and lust.
I feel like I read to fast to appreciate the turns of phrase and wit that are in this book. At least, I think it's meant to be funny. The language reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, kind of hard to grasp English humor.
I am both impressed and deterred by the honestly blunt sex scene on the boat.
Boo to killing to dog. Not just the act but also the how.
I love the idea of the blackberry ceiling over Seattle. I don't know how realistic it would be, but if it could actually be something I think every city should find a bush plant like that and invest in it.
The Princess is crazy. I don't think I could ever love someone enough to imprison myself in my own home until they were released.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Gulietta was the King's half-sister and ended up taking over the throne.
Is the idea of being a "genuine" human such a big thing? Is it the opposite of "basic"? Cuz this is the second book that hangs on that phrase. The first being Casual Vacancy.
Is the only reason they didn't try to blow up the door on the first day because they wanted to spend time together? To make up for the time they'd lost? Even though they didn't plan to be together after?
I find it interesting that the Princess says "I found a way to make love stay," in reference to sacrificing herself for him. Because, it's true, it's substantially harder to move on from someone when they've died, especially if you are the cause of that death. Not to mention our tendency to romanticize a person once they're gone regardless of our relationship to them.
I do believe that 2 people can have the same exact dream. I've had it happen at least once, Jessica and I and the Coo Coo Flumes.
I'm glad The Princess and Bernard ended up together, it wouldn't have made sense otherwise. Even if I feel like I didn't comprehend half of this story, I'm glad that part of it ended the way I wanted it to.
I love the ending. Maybe if had written the story in shorthand he wouldn't have lost me with all the weird jokes and turns of phrase and unique way of spelling things. I wholeheartedly concur with the idea that love is not what we crave buy mystery, something new, and if we stand still and stop finding mystery in our lives, that is when people crave the mystery of other/new people. So we must always search for the mystery in ourselves, in our partner, and in our life to keep us from looking at strangers, in order to make love stay.
Are the parts of the book called "phases" to represent the four primary phases of the moon?
I really love the story of Gulietta and Prince Charming. Up until this point I was having a difficult time putting all the names and characters together but this set of chapters helped me out.
The bit where the princess is explaining how no birth control works for her, and how she was beginning to feel that the world's attempt to prevent what is natural (child birth) almost feels like it is also taking away from the romance that is love and sex - made me think of Jessica so much. Just up until the Princess decided celibacy was the perfect life choice.
I went through a phase like the Princess did, trying to be overly mature as if to prove something. Didn't work well for me - I expect it won't work well for her either.
Is it true that you can't bring anything to Hawaii that might affect the natural ecosystem?
I find it funny that a Blonde was telling a Redhead that Redheads are evil and get their read hair from sweets and lust.
I feel like I read to fast to appreciate the turns of phrase and wit that are in this book. At least, I think it's meant to be funny. The language reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, kind of hard to grasp English humor.
I am both impressed and deterred by the honestly blunt sex scene on the boat.
Boo to killing to dog. Not just the act but also the how.
I love the idea of the blackberry ceiling over Seattle. I don't know how realistic it would be, but if it could actually be something I think every city should find a bush plant like that and invest in it.
The Princess is crazy. I don't think I could ever love someone enough to imprison myself in my own home until they were released.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Gulietta was the King's half-sister and ended up taking over the throne.
Is the idea of being a "genuine" human such a big thing? Is it the opposite of "basic"? Cuz this is the second book that hangs on that phrase. The first being Casual Vacancy.
Is the only reason they didn't try to blow up the door on the first day because they wanted to spend time together? To make up for the time they'd lost? Even though they didn't plan to be together after?
I find it interesting that the Princess says "I found a way to make love stay," in reference to sacrificing herself for him. Because, it's true, it's substantially harder to move on from someone when they've died, especially if you are the cause of that death. Not to mention our tendency to romanticize a person once they're gone regardless of our relationship to them.
I do believe that 2 people can have the same exact dream. I've had it happen at least once, Jessica and I and the Coo Coo Flumes.
I'm glad The Princess and Bernard ended up together, it wouldn't have made sense otherwise. Even if I feel like I didn't comprehend half of this story, I'm glad that part of it ended the way I wanted it to.
I love the ending. Maybe if had written the story in shorthand he wouldn't have lost me with all the weird jokes and turns of phrase and unique way of spelling things. I wholeheartedly concur with the idea that love is not what we crave buy mystery, something new, and if we stand still and stop finding mystery in our lives, that is when people crave the mystery of other/new people. So we must always search for the mystery in ourselves, in our partner, and in our life to keep us from looking at strangers, in order to make love stay.
--||--
Quotes Worth Mentioning
"IN THE LAST QUARTER of the twentieth century, at a time when Western civilization was
declining too rapidly for comfort and yet too slowly to be very exciting..."
"...the last quarter of the twentieth century was a severe period for lovers. It was a time when women openly resented men, a time when men felt betrayed by women."
"Albert Camus wrote that the only serious question is whether to kill yourself or not.
"Tom Robbins wrote that the only serious question is whether time has a beginning and an end.
"There is only one serious question. And that is: Who knows how to make love stay?
"Answer me that and I will tell you whether or not to kill yourself.
"Answer me that and I will ease your mind about the beginning and the end of time.
"Answer me that and I will reveal to you the purpose of the moon."
"...'an American house, a house without frills,' and got just that. It was a barn, a box with a peaked roof."
"Leigh-Cheri eventually named it Prince Charming after 'that son-of-a-bitch who never comes through.'"
"As Queen Tilli put it when Max asked her what she thought their only daughter wanted out of life,
"'She vants to buy zee vorld a Coke.'
“'Well,' said Max, 'she can’t afford it. And the world would demand Diet Pepsi, anyhow. Why doesn’t she buy me a martini, instead?'”
"Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature."
"...how can men be such lummoxes, such wads of Juicy Fruit on the soles of our ballet slippers and still feel so good?"
“Who does have a love life anymore? These days people have sex lives, not love lives.
Lots of them are even giving up sex. I don’t have a love life because I’ve never met a
man who knew how to have a love life. Maybe I don’t know how, either.”
"If smiles had addresses, Bernard’s would have been General Delivery, the Moon."
"we can never alter the ratio of good to evil. All we can do is keep things stirred up so neither good nor evil solidifies."
“I no longer know what love is. A week ago I had a lot of ideas. What love is and how
to make it stay. Now that I’m in love, I haven’t a clue. Now that I’m in love, I’m
completely stupid on the subject.”
"...to approach sex carelessly, shallowly, with detachment and without warmth is to dine night after night in erotic greasy spoons. In time, one’s palate will become insensitive, one will suffer (without
knowing it) emotional malnutrition, the skin of the soul will fester with scurvy, the teeth of the heart will decay."
"The Red Beards would have been a lunar people—mystic, occult, changeable, feministic, spiritual, pacific, agrarian, artistic, and erotic. While the Yellow Hairs would have been solar: abstract, rational, prosaic, militaristic, industrial, patriarchal, unemotional, and puritan. It’s a conflict that goes all the way back to the riff between Lucifer and Jehovah. The sun is Jehovah’s, but Lucifer rules dat ol’ debil moon.”
“Don’t let yourself be victimized by the age you live in. It’s not the times that will bring us down, any more than it’s society. When you put the blame on society, then you end up turning to society for the solution. There’s a tendency today to absolve individuals of moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance. You buy that, you pay with your soul. It’s not men who limit women, it’s not straights who limit gays, it’s not whites who limit blacks. What limits people is lack of character. What limits people is that they don’t have the fucking nerve or imagination to star in their own movie, let alone direct it.”
“The most important thing is love,” said Leigh-Cheri. “I know that now. There’s no
point in saving the world if it means losing the moon.”
“'I’ll follow him to the ends of the earth,' she sobbed.
"Yes, darling. But the earth doesn’t have any ends. Columbus fixed that."
"She did know that once tattooed one could no longer expect to lie for all eternity in an orthodox Jewish cemetery. They wouldn’t even bury women with pierced ears. A strange theory of mutilation from the people who invented cutting the skin off the pee-pee."
"Smoking cigarettes is as intimate as we can become with fire without immediate excruciation. Every smoker is an embodiment of Prometheus, stealing fire from the gods and bringing it on back home. We smoke to capture the power of the sun, the pacify Hell, to identify with the primordial spark, to feed on the marrow of the volcano ... Does that mean that chain smokers are religious fanatics? ... The lung of the smoker is a naked virgin thrown as a sacrifice into the godfire."
“Once in Hawaii, before I hardly even knew you, I thought you’d been arrested, and for some reason I went running to your boat in a panic. Tonight, I thought you were dead. There wasn’t any boat to run to.”
"Somewhere between champagne and tequila is the secret history of Mexico, just as somewhere between beef jerky and Hostess Twinkies is the secret history of America."
"It's always there, somewhere, a world on the other side of the mirror (or the Camel pack), a promise in the next pair of eyes that smiles at us. We glimpse it when we stand still."
"...the last quarter of the twentieth century was a severe period for lovers. It was a time when women openly resented men, a time when men felt betrayed by women."
"Albert Camus wrote that the only serious question is whether to kill yourself or not.
"Tom Robbins wrote that the only serious question is whether time has a beginning and an end.
"There is only one serious question. And that is: Who knows how to make love stay?
"Answer me that and I will tell you whether or not to kill yourself.
"Answer me that and I will ease your mind about the beginning and the end of time.
"Answer me that and I will reveal to you the purpose of the moon."
"...'an American house, a house without frills,' and got just that. It was a barn, a box with a peaked roof."
"Leigh-Cheri eventually named it Prince Charming after 'that son-of-a-bitch who never comes through.'"
"As Queen Tilli put it when Max asked her what she thought their only daughter wanted out of life,
"'She vants to buy zee vorld a Coke.'
“'Well,' said Max, 'she can’t afford it. And the world would demand Diet Pepsi, anyhow. Why doesn’t she buy me a martini, instead?'”
"Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature."
"...how can men be such lummoxes, such wads of Juicy Fruit on the soles of our ballet slippers and still feel so good?"
“Who does have a love life anymore? These days people have sex lives, not love lives.
Lots of them are even giving up sex. I don’t have a love life because I’ve never met a
man who knew how to have a love life. Maybe I don’t know how, either.”
"If smiles had addresses, Bernard’s would have been General Delivery, the Moon."
"we can never alter the ratio of good to evil. All we can do is keep things stirred up so neither good nor evil solidifies."
“I no longer know what love is. A week ago I had a lot of ideas. What love is and how
to make it stay. Now that I’m in love, I haven’t a clue. Now that I’m in love, I’m
completely stupid on the subject.”
"...to approach sex carelessly, shallowly, with detachment and without warmth is to dine night after night in erotic greasy spoons. In time, one’s palate will become insensitive, one will suffer (without
knowing it) emotional malnutrition, the skin of the soul will fester with scurvy, the teeth of the heart will decay."
"The Red Beards would have been a lunar people—mystic, occult, changeable, feministic, spiritual, pacific, agrarian, artistic, and erotic. While the Yellow Hairs would have been solar: abstract, rational, prosaic, militaristic, industrial, patriarchal, unemotional, and puritan. It’s a conflict that goes all the way back to the riff between Lucifer and Jehovah. The sun is Jehovah’s, but Lucifer rules dat ol’ debil moon.”
“Don’t let yourself be victimized by the age you live in. It’s not the times that will bring us down, any more than it’s society. When you put the blame on society, then you end up turning to society for the solution. There’s a tendency today to absolve individuals of moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance. You buy that, you pay with your soul. It’s not men who limit women, it’s not straights who limit gays, it’s not whites who limit blacks. What limits people is lack of character. What limits people is that they don’t have the fucking nerve or imagination to star in their own movie, let alone direct it.”
“The most important thing is love,” said Leigh-Cheri. “I know that now. There’s no
point in saving the world if it means losing the moon.”
“'I’ll follow him to the ends of the earth,' she sobbed.
"Yes, darling. But the earth doesn’t have any ends. Columbus fixed that."
"She did know that once tattooed one could no longer expect to lie for all eternity in an orthodox Jewish cemetery. They wouldn’t even bury women with pierced ears. A strange theory of mutilation from the people who invented cutting the skin off the pee-pee."
"Smoking cigarettes is as intimate as we can become with fire without immediate excruciation. Every smoker is an embodiment of Prometheus, stealing fire from the gods and bringing it on back home. We smoke to capture the power of the sun, the pacify Hell, to identify with the primordial spark, to feed on the marrow of the volcano ... Does that mean that chain smokers are religious fanatics? ... The lung of the smoker is a naked virgin thrown as a sacrifice into the godfire."
“Once in Hawaii, before I hardly even knew you, I thought you’d been arrested, and for some reason I went running to your boat in a panic. Tonight, I thought you were dead. There wasn’t any boat to run to.”
"Somewhere between champagne and tequila is the secret history of Mexico, just as somewhere between beef jerky and Hostess Twinkies is the secret history of America."
"It's always there, somewhere, a world on the other side of the mirror (or the Camel pack), a promise in the next pair of eyes that smiles at us. We glimpse it when we stand still."
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