Saturday, April 30

By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

About two to three days ago, I've finished reading a novel by Paulo Coelho, "By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept (Na margem do rio Piedra eu sentei e chorei). The book I bought about a week ago, and I officially bought its English version, or we can say it as international version of the book. It is quite heavy, with the beautiful diction inside it, and also the story line exposed.

Here is the book cover (it is exactly what it is):

Along the way, I found so many inspirational quotes. Or, maybe it's just a reflection of our real experiences, and Coelho succeeded to pack these all in compact. The language it served was so nude and honest, bold, and also cynic. The romantic side of Coelho, as usual, was also brought in here. 


 
I won't tell you too much about the book. if you are interested, buy it in Gramedia for only Rp.80.000,- (intl. version). Hereafter the brief explanation, the most beautiful quotes according to mine:


"But, I am going to fight for love," he continued. "There are some things in life that are worth fighting for to the end."

I was speechless.

"You are worth it," he said.

"..When we were quiet with each other, I was able to see how close I felt to him.
Neither of us had said anything. Love doesn't need to be discussed; it had its own voice and speaks for itself. That night, by the well, the silence had allowed our hearts to approach each other and get to know each other better. My heart had listened closely to what his had said, and now it was content."

"Break the glass please, and free us from all these damned rules, from needing to find an explanation for everything, from doing only what others approve of."

"But love is much like a dam; if you allow a tiny crack to form through which only a trickle of water can pass, that trickle will quickly bring down the whole structure and soon no one will be able to control the force of the current. For when those walls come down, then, love takes over, and it no longer matters what is possible and impossible; it doesn't even matter whether we can keep the loved one at our side. To love is to lose control."

"But love is always new. Regardless of whether we love once, twice or a dozen times in our life, we always face a brand-new situation. Love can consign us to hell or to paradise, but it always takes us somewhere. We simply have to accept it, because it is what nourishes our existence. If we reject it, we die of hunger, because we lack courage to stretch out a hand and pluck the fruit from the branches of the tree of life. We have to take love where we find it, even if it means hours, days, weeks of disappointments and sadness."

"Wait. This was the first lesson I learned about love. The day drags along, you make thousands of plans, you imagine every possible conversation, you promise to change your behaviour in certain ways - and you feel more and more anxious until your loved one arrives. But by then, you don't know what to say. The hours of waiting have been transformed into tension, the tension has become fear, and the fear makes you embrassed about showing affection."

 "Love is a trap. When it appears we see only its light, not its shadows."

Voila! Last, thank you for spending your little time in here, I'll share about "Veronika Decides To Die" in the upcoming days. But please don't ask whether I do work on my final project or not. I am still pretending (I do not). ROFL.


 Love,

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