The Taint Of Sadness

I love Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events.

From The Grim Grotto:

The way sadness works is one of the strangest riddles of the world. If you are stricken with a great sadness, you may feel as if you have been set aflame, not only because of the enormous pain, but also because your sadness may spread over your life, like smoke from an enormous fire. You might find it difficult to see anything but your own sadness, the way smoke can cover a landscape so that all anyone can see is black. You may find that happy things are tainted with sadness, the way smoke leaves its ashen colors and scents on everything it touches. And you may find that if someone pours water all over you, you are damp and distracted, but not cured of your sadness, the way a fire department can douse a fire but never recover what has been burnt down.

What other author plays with words as much as Lemony Snicket? Any suggestions?

Second Chances?

Today the book I'll share from is The Reader, by Bernard Schlink. I'm sure I was drawn to it initially by its name, but I soon became engrossed in the story. It's been a few years since I read it, and so I took a look at it again online. As I read what they say about this book, it is obvious that what seemed an interesting story to me was full of all sorts of other, hidden, meanings. Oh well, for me, this was one part that spoke to me then...and speaks to me now.

"Then I looked at Hanna's writing and saw how much energy and struggle the writing had cost her. I was proud of her. At the same time, I was sorry for her, sorry for her delayed and failed life, sorry for the delays and failures of life in general. I thought that if the right time gets missed, if one has refused or been refused something for too long, it's too late, even if it is finally tackled with energy and received with joy. Or is there no such thing as "too late"? Is there only "late," and is "late" always better than "never"? I don't know."

Sometimes, "late" should be better than "never".