"She was dying with a certain willfulness. She lay down, not just from the pain, and not solely from exhaustion." I found this very moving, Mary. It subtly suggests a tender egotism on the part of both the observer and the observed.
Ah, "deceptive cadence" -- in music and in life. I love how you so deftly let music repeatedly illuminate the story. This particular Schubert piece seems so perfectly apt.
This “pleasant possession” seems like something dear Robert will never experience, never achieve. Not with Lena, maybe not ever. Does his struggle with fluid separation never give way erotic possession?: “I tried to get those eighth notes rolling properly, playing up and down the chords, repeatedly, taking the chords and breaking them into their parts, fluidly and separately. Success at this gives the piece its complexity, assures that the rapid notes don’t overwhelm the melody, that both are heard as separate and integrated strands.”
"She was dying with a certain willfulness. She lay down, not just from the pain, and not solely from exhaustion." I found this very moving, Mary. It subtly suggests a tender egotism on the part of both the observer and the observed.
Ah, Jeffrey, so glad to have you as a sensitive reader, as the novel moves inexorably towards it close ...
Ah, "deceptive cadence" -- in music and in life. I love how you so deftly let music repeatedly illuminate the story. This particular Schubert piece seems so perfectly apt.
Oh, how lovely. I adore the Schubert! Don't you?
"Since we married, I have often walked toward the mall because that was where Lena was. I think I will always walk toward her."
It seems I am not alone in sighing at these lines dear Mary... heartbreakingly beautiful reading. Poor Robert.
Oh, Susie, your words, your sigh for that line and this chapter that moves toward the close of the novel mean so much. What a reader you are!
I think I will always walk toward her. 👌🏻
Oh, Adrian, that line and you: my heart opens.
The juxtaposition of the lack of finiteness in biblical translation and interpretation and the impending threat of cancer is beautiful, Mary
May I tell you how your continuing to read this novel that comes from my heart means to me? Heart to heart!
This “pleasant possession” seems like something dear Robert will never experience, never achieve. Not with Lena, maybe not ever. Does his struggle with fluid separation never give way erotic possession?: “I tried to get those eighth notes rolling properly, playing up and down the chords, repeatedly, taking the chords and breaking them into their parts, fluidly and separately. Success at this gives the piece its complexity, assures that the rapid notes don’t overwhelm the melody, that both are heard as separate and integrated strands.”
With this "possession," as you put it, he has a task to fulfill. How he does this remains the key ...
Achingly sad and as always, movingly beautiful. ✨
Ah, Susan, my loyal and deep reader!
Always, Mary! I am enthralled with these characters and their lives! ✨😍