Welcome to my commonplace blog

The goal of this blog is to preserve a few ideas and quotes from books I read. In the old days when books were not so readily available, people kept "commonplace books" where they copied choice passages they wanted to be able to remember and perhaps reuse. The idea got picked up by V.F.D. and it's common knowledge that most of that organization's volunteers have kept commonplace books, and so have Laura and I.

I'm sure there are many other Internet sites and blogs dedicated to the same idea. But this one is mine. Feel free to look around and leave comments, but not spam.

05 December 2011

Ashes (Ilsa J. Bick)

I see this book as a "YA" version of Conrad McCarthy's The Road, in that a mysterious event creates a harsh post-apocalyptic world with lots and lots of walking. "YA" meaning the characters talk, like, whatever. There are lots of yucky zombies and plenty of kewl ultraviolence.

I'm not sure i'd give this to one of my daughters to read because of the violence -- lots of people and dogs get killed in nasty ways. But i have to say, it is a fun and captivating read, with interesting characters and an unusual plot (although i thought it dragged a little in the middle). And a lot easier to read than The Road

Then there is an abrupt ending that makes more sense now that i found out that this is the first book of a planned trilogy.


Quotes:

Everyone was always so sorry when, really, sorry was just a word you said because it was more polite than whoa, better you than me.

“Oh.” Silence. “I wish I could do it all over again.” “Do what?” “Everything.

“As long as you’re alive, there is hope,” Jess said. “Hope is saying that I will live one more day, and that is a blessing, too.”

“Free will’s okay,” said Kincaid. “Only look where it got Adam.”

“You only want to brawl. You want a fight. Fighting tricks you into believing you can change the past, even when the past is dead and gone and all of it ashes,” said Jess.

Obeying orders just to obey is the mark of a person who has ceased to think. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing what is right than for doing what is wrong. Don’t fool yourself, Christopher. Peace comes with a price.”

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