Sam's Notes Taken Along the Way
I am already so excited for this book just from the tagline on the cover: "Every day a different body, every day a different life, every day in love with the same girl." Then, knowing this guy had his hands in "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" and "Will Greyson, Will Greyson" makes me even MORE excited; because I liked the movie of Nick and Nora and I've been wanting to read Will Greyson,
Day 5994
If his whole life, the narrator has been bouncing between bodies, how can he ever feel as though he has his own self?
"If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: We all want everything to be okay. We don’t even wish so much for fantastic or marvelous or outstanding. We will happily settle for okay, because most of the time, okay is enough."
"I find myself smiling when she comes near, and she smiles back. It’s as simple as that. Simple and complicated, as most true things are."
"You can learn a lot about people from the stories they tell, but you can also know them from the way they sing along, whether they like the windows up or down, if they live by the map or by the world, if they feel the pull of the ocean."
"It’s one thing to fall in love. It’s another to feel someone else falling in love with you, and to feel a responsibility toward that love."
It's been a long time since I watched Quantum leap but that's what this reminds me of. But also, how weird is it to imagine an e-mail address being the only real way for you to leave yourself any notes? It's interesting because it's something unique to our generation.
Day 5996
"And if he’d died … I wondered if I would have died, too. There is no way for me to know." - Definitely an interesting question to discuss.
"...video games. It’s a universal presence, like TV or the Internet. No matter where I am, I usually have access to these things." - Thinking about this is just crazy, even thinking back to our childhoods and how these things were common but a luxury. Think back to our parents' childhoods, our grandparents'.
"This, I’ve discovered, is the best way to waste time, because it isn’t really wasted—surrounded by friends, talking crap and sometimes talking for real, with snacks around and something on a screen."
Day 5997
Did it seem strange that the author described Amy as "rock n roll" and also had anime decals on he backpack? Not to say people have to like certain things, just seems simpler in a book world to have a clear character "style" instead of combos.
"...beautiful sadness is a myth. Sadness turns our features to clay, not porcelain."
"Kindness connects to who you are, while niceness connects to how you want to be seen."
At this point I can't decide how I expect or want this book to go. If I want Rhiannon's to somehow understand and believe who she is in love with lives in a different body every day (Time Traveler's Wife style), or if I want this to be a story of one sided / unrequited love where this narrator falls in love with different parts of her. However, the 2nd way would be confusing, too, cuz how many times can "new people" introduce themselves to her and then disappear before she stops being so kind to them?
Day 5999
I'm not sure if a guy singing a song to me randomly at a party would be uncomfortable or endearing.
What is the reason the narrator has for falling asleep in a car instead of taking Nathan's body home so he wouldn't wake up terribly confused?
Day 6000
"...no matter what our religion or gender or race or geographic background, we all have about 98 percent in common with each other. ... For whatever reason, we like to focus on the 2 percent that’s different, and most of the conflict in the world comes from that."
"The only way I can navigate through my life is because of the 98 percent that every life has in common."
"I feel as much belief in her as I do in God—I find faith in human perseverance, even as the universe throws challenge after challenge our way."
I was starting to get a little bored with the story before Nathan e-mailed the narrator and was clearly aware and angry about what had happened. Now my interest is perked again!
Day 6001
I can't imagine having to be romantic with people you aren't attracted to just so that you don't mess up their lives.
Day 6004
"I feel such a tenderness for these vulnerable nighttime conversations, the way words take a different shape in the air when there’s no light in the room."
"It’s only been two days, but that’s twice what I’m used to. It’s just a hint—the smallest hint—of what it would be like to wake up in the same place every morning. I have to let that go."
Day 6005
"It takes uncommon strength to live with these things [mental illness(es)]. But I have seen that strength over and over again. When I fall into the life of someone grappling, I have to mirror their strength, and sometimes surpass it, because I am less prepared."
The chapter about the girl with depression was very intense. I don't wanna write down all the bits that made it intense, but I really liked the character building in that body the most so far.
"I am not kissing her because I want to, and I am not kissing her because I need to—I am kissing her for a reason that transcends want and need, that feels elemental to our existence, a molecular component on which our universe will be built."
Day 6006
The scene of how Austin and Hugo met was so cheesy but cute
"Austin said, “Hey, that could be us in ten years.”
"And Hugo said, “Or ten months.”
"And Austin said, “Or ten days.”
"And Hugo said, “Or ten minutes.”
"And Austin said, “Or ten seconds.”
Day 6007
When A is yelling at Rhiannon about why Justin isn't any good for her, it reminds me of the part in Ruby Sparks when the author starts yelling at her that she is his creation.
"I didn’t think of myself as a boy or a girl—I never have. I would just think of myself as a boy or a girl for a day. It was like a different set of clothes." - Imagine that.
Day 6009
“How did you know it was me?” I have to ask.
“The way you looked at me,” she says. “It couldn’t have been anyone else.”
And just like that, the universe goes wrong. ... I feel it, and she doesn’t. Or I feel it, and she won’t.
Day 6015
The part when A accesses the memory of Justin and Rhiannon reading "The Outsiders" and he calls her Silver because "Nothing gold can stay" is very cute.
Day 6018
The bit when Rhiannon acts insulted that A used artificial sweetener to fill in the heart at the Chinese restaurant was cute.
I also don't like "The Giving Tree" for the same reasons as A and Rhiannon, that loving someone doesn't mean giving them every single little bit of yourself.
Day 6021
I'm pretty sure Dana would be on trial for involuntary manslaughter if she killed her brother driving drunk. She would have more serious problems than a grounding and a psychiatrist house call.
On that same note, I wonder if A has ever found himself in prison or in juvenile delinquency, that would be an interesting story to tell.
Day 6022
I find it interesting that the only way for A to leave (or return) to a specific area is to do it as another person. How if he had gone to Hawaii he wouldn't have woken back up near Rhiannon's town, but near the vacation place.
"Just because you break up with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re free of him. I’m still attached to Justin in a hundred different ways. We’re just not dating anymore. It’s going to take me years to be free of him.”
Day 6023
"This isn’t exactly the welcome I was hoping for, but it’s a welcome I understand. When we’re alone together, I’m the destination. When I’m here in her life at school, I’m the disruption."
I appreciate that this book is so modern and does dive into things like transgender. I'm glad that Vic's chapter was lengthier than other chapters because transgender identity intrigues me (that sounds bad, but I mean it positively).
Day 6024
The bit about the funeral and how A wants to commit it all to memory hit me, partially because it's a sweet gesture not to take away important things from people, but also in the idea that if this was real, think of days you just can't remember fully when you should be able to (the opposite of deja vu, I suppose).
Also when A is feeling bad for himself because he'll never be grieved, it's sad, but it also makes me think about how when you go to family funerals (or friend funerals I suppose though I've been fortunate enough to never do that) it's always amazing at the number of people you don't know. And I think that's what people ask when they say "Who would be at my funeral." We know who we expect to be there, but who else will show up, and how do people find out about funerals besides word of mouth, especially in this day and age?
Day 6025
"...the looks I get—such undisguised disgust. ... The judgment flows freely. It’s possible that they’re reacting to the thing that Finn has allowed himself to become. But there’s also something more primal, something more defensive in their disgust. I am what they fear becoming."
That fat chapter makes me mad, not just because I take it personally a little bit, but because A, and/or the author, is basically fat shaming the whole time. Talking about what Finn could do to fix things. But it's also realistic I suppose, cuz most overweight people don't sit and think how great they are, they're thinking about their appearance and their sweat and the way they feel being hugged. I guess it was just a trigger for me, so I'm glad it was short.
I'm also going to theorize that the reason Rhiannon didn't "see" or "feel" A inside Finn's body is because A was so wrapped up in his body that he didn't let his personality show through,
However, the idea of getting roses to take to the movie theater is a sweet gesture cuz the whole time you're at the theater you'll be getting the attention of "Look that lucky girl with a dozen roses in the seat next to her."
Day 6028
Poole being like A was a welcome surprise. I remember wondering at the beginning if there were others because a sole entity like A doesn't make sense.
Day 6029
"There are still a few hours left in the night, but she doesn’t use any of them to get back to me."
Day 6030
Zara and Amelia remind me of Jeff's sister Anna and her girlfriend Em. Such perfection it almost makes you sick, or angry.
Day 6033
As much as I can appreciate A's sacrifice, it's still an imperfect plan. What if instead of feeling lucky Alex wakes up confused and not attracted to Rhiannon at all. Even as a sacrifice there's no way to be sure it's going to go the way A wants.
Overall, I enjoyed this book but I don't think I could re-read it. I think the concept is great but it was difficult to develop on paper.
