Author Topic: Your fave lines from the book?  (Read 5125 times)

Offline saucycobblers

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Your fave lines from the book?
« on: June 01, 2006, 07:18:24 am »
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  :'(
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Offline David

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2006, 07:22:29 am »
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.

Offline Kelda

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2006, 08:13:51 am »
... 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*
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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2006, 08:38:56 am »
"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. ::)

Offline DeeDee

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2006, 08:52:08 am »
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.
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Offline saucycobblers

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2006, 08:56:13 am »

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.
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2006, 08:59:27 am »
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."

 ;)
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Offline isabelle

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2006, 09:14:25 am »
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...
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Offline isabelle

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2006, 09:24:17 am »
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".
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Offline saucycobblers

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2006, 09:32:28 am »
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.
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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #10 on: June 01, 2006, 10:08:45 am »
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".

Too bad that they ended the movie on a sad note and did not include the fact that Ennis seemed to have been through most of his grief and bereavement process.

But, as Jack said, in words to this effect, "Our relationship is based on your experiences with me upon Brokeback Mountain. Every time you decide that we will be together it has to be in the mountains somewhere to remind you of that. We could have had a real life together and not one based on your ideal fantasy."

Offline henrypie

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #11 on: June 01, 2006, 11:05:48 am »
Another vote for "paw the white out of the moon..."

Offline PatSinnott

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Re: Your fave lines from the book?
« Reply #12 on: June 01, 2006, 11:46:14 am »
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.

This is also one of my favorite parts/lines.  Here is the exact passage, it give us such an insight into Ennis' happiness with Jack, way before anything physical happens. 


They had a high-time supper by the fire, a can of beans each, fried potatoes and a
quart of whiskey on shares, sat with their backs against a log, boot soles and copper
jeans rivets hot, swapping the bottle while the lavender sky emptied of color and the
chill air drained down, drinking, smoking cigarettes, getting up every now and then
to piss, firelight throwing a sparkle in the arched stream, tossing sticks on the fire to
keep the talk going, talking horses and rodeo, roughstock events, wrecks and injuries
sustained, the submarine Thresher lost two months earlier with all hands and how it
must have been in the last doomed minutes, dogs each had owned and known, the
draft, Jack's home ranch where his father and mother held on, Ennis's family place
folded years ago after his folks died, the older brother in Signal and a married sister
in Casper. Jack said his father had been a pretty well known bullrider years back but
kept his secrets to himself, never gave Jack a word of advice, never came once to see
Jack ride, though he had put him on the woolies when he was a little kid. Ennis said
the kind of riding that interested him lasted longer than eight seconds and had some
point to it. Money's a good point, said Jack, and Ennis had to agree. They were
respectful of each other's opinions, each glad to have a companion where none had
been expected. Ennis, riding against the wind back to the sheep in the treacherous,
drunken light, thought he'd never had such a good time, felt he could paw the white
out of the moon.

I think the movie captured fragments of this when they were sitting around the fire drinking, talking and singing, Ennis banging a stick on the pot.  I'm pretty sure that scene in the movie was the same night as the FNIT though, as this from the story shows Ennis riding back up to the sheep.  The movie also portrayed this bonding when Jack tells Ennis that's the most he's spoken in two weeks, and Ennis' reply about the most he's spoken in a year.

This passage from the story is tied with the dozy embrace scene in Jack's memory as my two favorites, probably because they each show clearly the love between them.
..yet he is suffused with a sense of pleasure because Jack Twist was in his dream.