Favorite Line
I think so far my favorite line in anything that I've thus far read of our materials for this class is American Gods p 536 (paperback version) middle paragraph "People imagine, and people believe: and it is that belief, that rock-solid belief, that makes things happen." People can argue all they want about universal truths. I say if you believe in such things than that is one...
it's that imagination, suspended belief (if you will) in the real/known world (or BElief that what we are reading, at least for the moment we are reading it, is true) that allows us to engross ourselves in these novels, allows them to happen. It makes Shadow and Polly at least as real to us as the kid two rows back in such and such 101 (becasue we at least know thier feelings and thoughts) .
Magic for beginners is probably the best title for the class; in my opinion this quote is probably the best...subtitle? or motto or something.
(on a sidenote my favorite monolauge sofar also out of Gods...the "I believe speech from Sam to Shadow/Mike that starts on the top of p394 and continues partway down 395 "...anyone who clains to know what's going on will lie about the little things to...no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system...life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.")
it's that imagination, suspended belief (if you will) in the real/known world (or BElief that what we are reading, at least for the moment we are reading it, is true) that allows us to engross ourselves in these novels, allows them to happen. It makes Shadow and Polly at least as real to us as the kid two rows back in such and such 101 (becasue we at least know thier feelings and thoughts) .
Magic for beginners is probably the best title for the class; in my opinion this quote is probably the best...subtitle? or motto or something.
(on a sidenote my favorite monolauge sofar also out of Gods...the "I believe speech from Sam to Shadow/Mike that starts on the top of p394 and continues partway down 395 "...anyone who clains to know what's going on will lie about the little things to...no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system...life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.")
posted by Clayton at 11:23 PM
2 Comments:
I fold over the corner of a page every time I read something I would like to keep in mind. In American Gods I did that several times, but I have one for Monstrous Regiment too.
When Polly is initially scared that she has been discovered as a girl, she is embarrassed. "But not for the obvious reason. It was for the other one, the little lesson that life sometimes rams home with a stick: you are not the only one watching the world, other people are also people, while you watch them they watch you, and they think about you while you think about them. The world isn't just about you."
I people watch a lot, and I'd never actually thought about it from this perspective.
This line is one of the reasons why religion is so prevalent in the lives of many. Sometimes people even claim that their belief has caused the impossible to happen. This is what leads to holy books that are written. This book is a great commentary about humanity and what it might be like if the gods were among us.
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