Friday, August 22

Not Quite the Lion and the Lamb......and a Book


but close enough, right? The email I got this in said that the fawn followed the beagle into the home through the doggy door. How sweet is that!?

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For the past 2-3 weeks, there's been plenty to write about, but now my brain and I have reached an impasse and coming up with a post is hard work! I'll think about that tomorrow, just like Scarlet did.

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The book "Atonement" by Ian McEwen has been in my car for the last month. Everyday I read at least a small portion while I am eating lunch, or in-between appointments. Today I burst out in tears, having read a portion about a nurse caring for patients returning from the front in WW1. She was nearly in shock at the condition of some, and had to keep a calm expression on her face so as not to let them know how terrible some of them looked. The description of this nurse having a long and difficult conversation with a French boy of 18 (her age), ended with his death, just after he declared a lifetime of love for her. The fact that he was under the impression she was his girlfriend of yesteryear made no difference to either of them. I think it had to be one of the saddest (and most believable) pieces of fiction I've ever read.

Several weeks ago, while getting my car serviced at the dealership, a woman asked my opinion of the book and mentioned that she had read it 2 years ago, and it made her very mad. I almost don't want to finish the book, lest I have the same reaction she did. But I have only stopped reading one book in my life (that I can remember) so I will likely soldier on with this one too (pun intended). Have you read it? What was your final impression of the book?

24 comments:

Teena in Toronto said...

That pic is just way too cute!

Michele says hello :)

Anonymous said...

that pic made my day! so cute. I have that book and I couldn't get through chapter two. Then I watched the movie - and I was MAD! lol.. michele sent me

Fran aka Redondowriter said...

I loved Atonement, book and movie. Have you read On Chesil Beach? This picture really is cute.

sage said...

Love that pic. Atonement is on my TBR pile.

Granny Annie said...

I haven't read the book but I used to read on my lunch hour at work. I had to quit because I would cry if it was funny and cry if it was sad and cry if it was lousy, thus ruining my my makeup. (I have been told that all it takes to make me cry is a warm handshake.)

Beverly said...

Sweet picture! I haven't read the book.

Evil Twin's Wife said...

I haven't read that book, but I think the mark of good writing is that it makes you feel *something*. Happy, mad, sad, etc. The only thing that truly sucks is the book that is so poorly written, you're just PO'd that you wasted that many hours of your lfe reading it! LOL (Like you, I don't quit until I finish the book, so if it stinks, I suffer through to the bitter, stinky end).

Pat said...

I enjoyed it - and the film, and have his next 'On Chesil Beach ' in waiting - AFTER I've finished Midnight's Children' It's a hard life:)

Anonymous said...

Stories that make us feel...whether sad or happy or what ...that's what they're for. But a movie only last for two hours. Sometimes it's hard to live with a sad or gruesome story in a book for days on end.

Karen said...

Wow, your post reminds me of what a slacker I am! I started reading Atonement and it bored me to tears. But I am a very lazy reader. And if it brought you to tears, it's obviously touched a nerve. I think you should continue on. I'm impressed!

It's been WAY too long and I'm so glad that Michele sent me here!! Have a great weekend!

Bear Naked said...

That photo is adorable.
I can see how the dog might have said:
"He follwed me home Mom, can I keep him?"

Haven't read that book yet but will put it on my list.

Bear((( )))

Jean-Luc Picard said...

What an incredible picture. So well taken.

Micghele sent me.

Anonymous said...

My daughter read Atonement and hated it. I determined that when I saw it flying out of her room down the hallway while listening to her scream some German invective, thereby leading to some rather stern paternal admonitions.

Cheers.

tiff said...

Haven't read the book. I prefer far more escapist literature. If it makes you mad to read it, well...I can get that in real life. :)

Anil P said...

Must try this book. Recently finished Nadine Gordimer's book "July's People".

Gary ("Old Dude") said...

thats an amazing incident, and a terrific photo.

Ginnie said...

That's an amazing picture of the beagle and the fawn. I can't help but wonder where the mother deer is and she must be frantic looking for her young one.
There has to be much more to that story.

Bar L. said...

I didn't read Atonement cause I knew it would make me very emotional...

Anonymous said...

Judy,

Those doggie doors are very convenient for your pet to go in and out of the house. Maybe too convenient.

A friend of mine woke up one morning to a houseful of animals. Two strange dogs, a cat, and,of all things, a SKUNK. The skunk was happy to be there so no scent was unleashed.

She opened the front door and shooed them all out but the skunk did not want to go and she was afraid to rile him up.

It took an hour for him to decide to eat the food that they put on the front porch for him .

As he was eating they quickly shut the front door and closed up the doggy door for the last time...

Traci Dolan said...

I have not read "Atonement" but I want nothing of a book that will make me angry or mad.

Read "Boy's Life" by Robert McCammon, its a true gem. I cry at the end but only because it is so beautiful.

JeanMac said...

the picture is just too special - and I haven't read the book.

Sky said...

it made me very sad and aware that there are often many long range effects of our actions which we may never have considered. i recommend your finishing the book.

i love the photo!

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Someone sent me that pictures of the Fawn and the doggie, too...Remarkably sweet, isn't it?

I haven't read that book, but the two stories you mentioned are incredibly similar to some peices I read that were written by a Nurse documenting her Vietnam War experiences, when she was an ER Nurse there. Some of her things were included in a play of Monologues that Annie Guilbert did. At one of our Ladies Who Lunch, gatherings, Annie brought us this book by The Nurse...it is incredibly powerful and not fiction, at all. I may have to get that book and see just how close these things really are...!

Anonymous said...

I read the book and it's not one I would recommend to everyone. It is one that you should stick with and finish. I'm glad I read it, enjoyed the use of language, but felt a little let down by how the author chose to end it. I haven't seen the movie.

Let us know!