Your fave lines from the book?

[saucycobblers]

I wondered what everyone's favourite lines / passages were from the book, and why? I know that you can barely find a line that isn't beautiful / haunting / poetic / heartbreaking in Annie Proulx's genius writing, but for my part these are two of my favourites...

' "You got a kid?" said Jack. His shaking hand grazed Ennis's hand, electrical current snapped between them.
"Two little girls," Ennis said. "Alma Jr. and Francine. Love them to pieces." Alma's mouth twitched.
"I got a boy," said Jack. "Eight months old. Tell you what, I married a cute little old Texan girl down in Childress - Lureen." From the vibrations of the floorboard on which they both stood Ennis could feel how hard Jack was shaking. '

I can almost feel myself holding my breath when I read that part, and can totally feel how close Jack is to losing control & the impact Ennis's physical presence has on him.


And I also love...

'There were only the two of them on the mountain flying in the euphoric, bitter air, looking down on the hawk's back and the crawling lights of vehicles on the plain below, suspended above ordinary affairs and distant from the tame ranch dogs barking in the dark hours. They believed themselves invisible...'

I've quoted this elsewhere on the board, but you can't read it too many times IMO! I can't think of a more beautiful expression of the overwhelming feeling of first love. I was on a crowded bus when i first read it and it made me cry! I think the person next to me was wondering what the hell was wrong 

[David]

My favourite line is the one when Ennis is riding back u pto the sheep.  He is so happy that he feels that" he could paw the white right off of the moon."

Too bad they couldn't convey that in the movie.

[Kelda]

... and still they clinched, pressing chest and groin and thigh and leg together, treading on each other's toes until they pulled apart to breathe and Ennis, not big on endearments, said what he said to his horses and daughters, little darlin.

*sigh*

[vkm91941]

"Like vast clouds of steam from thermal springs in winter the years of things unsaid and now unsayable -- admissions, declarations, shames, guilts,fears--rose around them...."

love that one, but Anne's prose is so evocative it's hard to pick just one.

[DeeDee]

My favourite line is the one when Ennis is riding back u pto the sheep.  He is so happy that he feels that" he could paw the white right off of the moon."

Too bad they couldn't convey that in the movie.

I'm gonna hang on David's coat tails, this is the best line ever.  I kind of see him thinking that in the movie, when he's sending up a prayer of thanks.

[saucycobblers]

I'm gonna hang on David's coat tails, this is the best line ever.  I kind of see him thinking that in the movie, when he's sending up a prayer of thanks.

It really is a beautiful line. For me it's the moment Ennis starts to feel the euphoria of new love, though I suspect he doesn't realise it yet.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I got a million of 'em. Well, not literally. ...

But the only one I can be sure I won't misquote without the text here in front of me at work?

"Gun's goin' off."

 

[isabelle]

I enjoyed contributing to this thread of yours on IMDb, Nicky. There are indeed hundreds I could quote. You've already quoted the "shaking floorboards" one, so here's an other:

"...yet he is suffused with a sense of pleasure because Jack Twist was in his dream"

To which the following echoes

"And he would wake sometimes in grief, sometimes with the old sense of joy and relief; the pillow sometimes wet, sometimes the sheets"

Gets me every time, even right now...

[isabelle]

I also love, and understand the feeling of:

" If he does not force his attention on it [the dream], it might stoke the day, rewarm that old, cold time on the mountain when they owned the world and nothing seemed wrong".

[saucycobblers]

Hey Isabelle! I thought I'd resurrect this from IMDB as it got quite a good response there. Also, watching the film a second time at the theatres after having read the story felt like a much more overwhelming experience for me, Annie Proulx's words were so powerful.