The word is as powerful as the sword...
Sometimes, literature can make you stop and stare at the page, a 'whoosh' of excitement filling your ears, thrill and goosebumps all over the place, a sudden inability to breathe, and the words 'Oh. My. God.' running through your head. Repeatedly.
Ever had that feeling? I have. Multiple times.
When this occurs, the cause is mostly to do with plot. It is either an incredible twist, or something that suddenly alters the tone of the work, something that makes you think 'things will never be the same again', or an idea that is so amazing that you remain shell-shocked, and need a few deep breaths to get back to normal.
And now, a few example of scenes that cause me to react exactly this way. Please skip what you haven't read if you don't want to be spoiled.
I want to start with a passage from the last chapter of The Subtle Knife, the second book in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. Mrs. Coulter is, to put it mildly, interrogating the witch Lena Feldt as to the the whereabouts of her daughter Lyra. Here's the passage:
'"And now tell me this. You witches know something about the child Lyra. I nearly learned it from one of your sisters, but she died before I could complete the torture. Well, there is no one to save you now. Tell me the truth about my daughter."
Lena Feldt gasped: "She will be the mother - she will be life - mother - she will disobey - she will -"
"Name her! You are saying everything but the most important thing! Name her!" cried Mrs. Coulter.
"Eve! Mother of all! Eve, again! Mother Eve!" stammered Lena Feldt, sobbing.
"Ah," said Mrs. Coulter.
And she breathed a great sigh, as if the purpose of her life was clear to her at last.'
I remember reading that page three more times, open-mouthed. The concept of Lyra as Eve, the importance of naming her, Mrs. Coulter sighing... Masterful.
The next scene is from Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I will spare you the fangirl's gushing over Hardy; my friends are the usual audience to that. But please allow me to rave over this particular scene: it is chapter 56, from 'Fulfilment', and the householder Mrs. Brooks observes a red stain on the ceiling getting gradually larger. It's blood, as she soon understands. As we understand, Tess has murdered Alec Stoke-D'Urberville. He appears to be bleeding on the carpet. Chilling.
In Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, all semblance of security is snatched away in one little line. Winston and Julia are lying in bed, after having had sex for the umpteenth time (go them! At least they get some). Winston is brooding about how there might yet be hope for the future generations. 'You were the dead; theirs was the future,' he thinks. Poor Winston!
'"We are the dead," he said.
"We are the dead," echoed Julia dutifully.
"You are the dead," said an iron voice behind them.
Oops. Busted. And, oh, shit.
Wimpy, whinging Jonathan Harker witnesses this scene in Count Dracula's castle.
'[...] I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss, face down, with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings. At first I could not believe my eyes. I thought it was some trick of the moonlight, some weird effect of shadow; but I kept looking, and it could be no delusion. I saw the fingers and toes grasp the corners of the stones, worn clear of the mortar by the stress of years, and by thus using every projection and inequality move downwards with considerable speed, just like a lizard moves along a wall.
What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the semblance of man? I feel the dread of this horrible place overpowering me; I am in fear - awful fear - and there is no escape for me; I am encompassed about with terrors that I dare not think of...'
Wow. Guess what, Jonathan? We are in awful fear too. [Incidentally, this is just about the only scene that looked good in the movie adaptation of Dracula. The rest was pretty much ruined by Keanu Reeves trying to act.]
The next scene is, believe it or not, from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, my second-favourite HP book after Goblet of Fire. Harry follows the disembodied voice of the basilisk, and is led to the petrified form of Mrs. Norris, and the creepy, cryptic message on the wall: 'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.' It's such an incredibly tense moment, so eerie and mysterious. What's the Chamber of Secrets? Who's the heir? Who are its enemies? I'm still amazed at how chilling two short sentences can be.
And last but most definitely not least, this paragraph from Thackeray's Vanity Fair, chapter 32, 'In which Jos takes Flight, and the War is brought to a Close':
'No more firing was heard at Brussels - the pursuit rolled miles away. Darkness came down on the field and city; and Amelia was praying for George, who was lying on his face, dead, with a bullet through his heart.'
This is the most effective chapter ending I have ever come across. I don't think I was able to turn the page for a long time after reading that.
The list is officially over. But isn't it amazing how words printed on a piece of paper can make your blood go cold?
Ever had that feeling? I have. Multiple times.
When this occurs, the cause is mostly to do with plot. It is either an incredible twist, or something that suddenly alters the tone of the work, something that makes you think 'things will never be the same again', or an idea that is so amazing that you remain shell-shocked, and need a few deep breaths to get back to normal.
And now, a few example of scenes that cause me to react exactly this way. Please skip what you haven't read if you don't want to be spoiled.
I want to start with a passage from the last chapter of The Subtle Knife, the second book in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. Mrs. Coulter is, to put it mildly, interrogating the witch Lena Feldt as to the the whereabouts of her daughter Lyra. Here's the passage:
'"And now tell me this. You witches know something about the child Lyra. I nearly learned it from one of your sisters, but she died before I could complete the torture. Well, there is no one to save you now. Tell me the truth about my daughter."
Lena Feldt gasped: "She will be the mother - she will be life - mother - she will disobey - she will -"
"Name her! You are saying everything but the most important thing! Name her!" cried Mrs. Coulter.
"Eve! Mother of all! Eve, again! Mother Eve!" stammered Lena Feldt, sobbing.
"Ah," said Mrs. Coulter.
And she breathed a great sigh, as if the purpose of her life was clear to her at last.'
I remember reading that page three more times, open-mouthed. The concept of Lyra as Eve, the importance of naming her, Mrs. Coulter sighing... Masterful.
The next scene is from Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I will spare you the fangirl's gushing over Hardy; my friends are the usual audience to that. But please allow me to rave over this particular scene: it is chapter 56, from 'Fulfilment', and the householder Mrs. Brooks observes a red stain on the ceiling getting gradually larger. It's blood, as she soon understands. As we understand, Tess has murdered Alec Stoke-D'Urberville. He appears to be bleeding on the carpet. Chilling.
In Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, all semblance of security is snatched away in one little line. Winston and Julia are lying in bed, after having had sex for the umpteenth time (go them! At least they get some). Winston is brooding about how there might yet be hope for the future generations. 'You were the dead; theirs was the future,' he thinks. Poor Winston!
'"We are the dead," he said.
"We are the dead," echoed Julia dutifully.
"You are the dead," said an iron voice behind them.
Oops. Busted. And, oh, shit.
Wimpy, whinging Jonathan Harker witnesses this scene in Count Dracula's castle.
'[...] I saw the whole man slowly emerge from the window and begin to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss, face down, with his cloak spreading out around him like great wings. At first I could not believe my eyes. I thought it was some trick of the moonlight, some weird effect of shadow; but I kept looking, and it could be no delusion. I saw the fingers and toes grasp the corners of the stones, worn clear of the mortar by the stress of years, and by thus using every projection and inequality move downwards with considerable speed, just like a lizard moves along a wall.
What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the semblance of man? I feel the dread of this horrible place overpowering me; I am in fear - awful fear - and there is no escape for me; I am encompassed about with terrors that I dare not think of...'
Wow. Guess what, Jonathan? We are in awful fear too. [Incidentally, this is just about the only scene that looked good in the movie adaptation of Dracula. The rest was pretty much ruined by Keanu Reeves trying to act.]
The next scene is, believe it or not, from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, my second-favourite HP book after Goblet of Fire. Harry follows the disembodied voice of the basilisk, and is led to the petrified form of Mrs. Norris, and the creepy, cryptic message on the wall: 'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.' It's such an incredibly tense moment, so eerie and mysterious. What's the Chamber of Secrets? Who's the heir? Who are its enemies? I'm still amazed at how chilling two short sentences can be.
And last but most definitely not least, this paragraph from Thackeray's Vanity Fair, chapter 32, 'In which Jos takes Flight, and the War is brought to a Close':
'No more firing was heard at Brussels - the pursuit rolled miles away. Darkness came down on the field and city; and Amelia was praying for George, who was lying on his face, dead, with a bullet through his heart.'
This is the most effective chapter ending I have ever come across. I don't think I was able to turn the page for a long time after reading that.
The list is officially over. But isn't it amazing how words printed on a piece of paper can make your blood go cold?
Labels: Books, Deep Thought
posted by The Poodle's Friend at 7:05 PM
4 Comments:
Oh my dear god Acorn,you have outdone yourself. This was an amazing post. Seriously, i remember when i was reading that 1984 scene and I was just pertrified when that happened. For a few seconds, I was just in shock and had to read reread the scene in order to even beieve it.
The Dracula scene is seriously cool and dont even think of the movie when you're reading it. You do know my whole Dracula phone incident. I still get creeped out even thinking of it.
His Dark Materials always has me speechless and I still maintain that its the best planned and written series I have ever read.Im going to write a huge His Dark Materials post sometime this month.
I mock your HP literary referance, even though i understand it. I am always more of a POA and HBP person.
I can think of several other books I'd like to add in that list!
Wow, this was long, sorry.
Gee- this post was impressive... pity I couldnt read half of it, in order to avoid the well-known and widely practiced art of "book ruining". Should I quote one example from Jude the Obscure, where I was told about the main characetr's death, while I had just finished the first couple of chapters?! (or was panacea responsible for that one?!)
Still, I have to agree 1984 is really good- though I do have a soft spot for A Clockwork Orange.... mmmmm.... happy extended essay 12th grade days... the golden years....
Harry
Alright, Jude so wasnt Panacea's fault. She didnt even know he dies. She just randomly said it so as to annoy Harry and Acorn, who were busy raving about Hardy. So, Panacea is completely blameless. Although, this does show how predictable Hardy is, doesnt it?
Serendipity? I was just logging on to post something and your blog came scrolling by. So I clicked on it ...
I only noticed the title of your latest post after I'd read it through.
Nice post. There's another recent post by a guy who calls himself Jabberwock, on the 100 best opening lines of novels. You like books, you might like that.
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