There are some book scenes I think about daily.
I think about the moment in Lisa Genova's Still Alice when Alice sees a large black hole in her entry way floor - a scary, never-ending hole that was not there before, and one she couldn't cross. And she sees her purse, hovering, impossibly, on top of the middle of that black hole.
John Green's Turtles All the Way Down and the quote about 'intrusives', or invasive thoughts.
'Big Brother is watching you' from George Orwell's 1984 is a quote I use almost daily.
Pretty much every twist in Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I no longer trust explicitly.
Glimpses from Hamnet, American Dirt and Razorblade Tears.
These are my Roman Empire.
After this week, I think I can add a few scenes from Wally Lamb's The River is Waiting to that list.
I read The River is Waiting in less than 48 hours and not because it was a short, easy read. It is anything but easy and it runs over 400 pages.
I cried for most of the first few chapters, and had to put it down, walking away from the story. It was too raw. I needed to breathe, to detach myself from it. The emotional weight of it was heavy. I texted the friend who recommended it, and told her "the storyline is destroying me, but I just can't stop reading. And does the narrator ever become likable?" She urged me to keep reading and I can't remember the last time I have finished a book so quickly. I speed read the last chapter, wanting to know what was going to happen, and how, and I needed to know now - and also never, ever wanting it to end.
It was a devastating read for so many reasons.
If you liked A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, Razorblade Tears by S.A. Crosby, or My Friends by Frederick Backman, I highly recommend diving into A River is Waiting.
