Thursday, April 14, 2016

A Movable Feast

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I had never read A Movable Feast by Earnest Hemingway...until this week. The book is set in Paris and other parts of Europe in the early 1920s.

I was saddened to reach the end.  He drew me into the language. His quest for mots justes, the French term for using the right word or expression, is part of the reason why his work survives. 

I guess I've always thought that any old word would do as long as it gets the point across, but after reading this book, I think there's much to be said for being more discriminating when selecting the right words. Reading this work was sobering.

Flashback to this past Tuesday: I was on the way home from the workshop up in north-central Alabama when I saw a field of yellow flowers off in the distance with white flowers in the foreground. Pulling off the Interstate, I steered the truck off the emergency lane and into the grass.

I sat on the tailgate for a long while in the warm afternoon sun watching the clouds and the wind making the flowers dance. The shifting light changed the landscape every few seconds.

This has been a delightful spring. 


9 comments:

  1. You have a good eye for catching some beautiful pictures! Good one for sure !

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  2. Only Hemingway book I could ever get through was "The Old Man And the Sea" I should probably try again now that the reading is not School Mandatory.

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  3. Some people never bother to stop and take in the scenery. You're wise to appreciate nature as you do.

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  4. I admire your appreciation for nature...and a good book.
    Lisa

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  5. Anonymous1:40 PM

    You have a wonderful home-style way with words!!

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  6. I think you're a funner (I just made that term up!) read than Hemmingway...and you know how to appreciate the beauty of the every day! Our weather has finally turned the corner for Spring..I hope! It's 70de today and sunny...I'm smiling big!

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  7. I think Hemmingway wrote for men. Even The Old Man And The Sea which was required reading in high school was difficult for me. I think the message is even masculine.

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  8. You are definitely one who stops to smell the roses.

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  9. ...and today was particularly beautiful in our next of the woods.

    Cherdo
    Cherdo on the Flipside
    "Favorite Characters, Favorite Lines" on the A-to-Z Challenge 2016

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