Quotations Weblog

I don’t know how I know this, but I do know that Jane Austen hates the town of Bath. She portrays it as a petty city that is only good for gossip and parties and balls. After reading all her works, I can most assuredly say that Jane Austen hates Bath.

I searched the entire catalog of Jane Austen novels using The Literature Page in search of a quotation to prove my supposition. There were 197 uses of the word “Bath” in her complete works. Discounting the “sea-bathing” and the “she took a bath” entries, I found a great many quotes pertaining to Bath:

These quotes are said by women that we should know are unwise.

The only clues that I have that Jane hates Bath are these few quotes:

All of Jane’s heroines love the country life, so this quote tells me that life in the country is decidedly better than it is in Bath.

This is probably the main reason I think that Jane Austen hates Bath. My favorite character from my favorite of her novels hates Bath. Jane must also.

Sadly, one perfect quote from Jane Austen saying her true feelings about Bath does not exist and I have to pick and gather to prove my point. I’ve heard it’s a nice place to live now, however.

Last Friday on Pick Me!, I reviewed Someone Comes To Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow. It is an odd book that mixes the fantasy world and the real world in strange and mixed up combinations that end up mostly making sense. I really enjoyed reading the book and found one of the characters to be particularly scary.

You can purchase this book at Amazon or download it for free at Cory’s site. He has released under the Creative Commons Copyright, so downloading it is perfectly legal.

Here are the amazing quotes that I was able to cull from its pages:

I just finished a book called Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. It’s a young adult science fiction book and I found it entirely enjoyable. The book is based on hard sci-fi, but the concepts are explained well enough that it easy to understand.

The heroine, Tally, is about to turn sixteen. When she does, she will undergo a series of surgeries to make her “pretty” because right now, she’s “ugly” just like every other child under sixteen. Everyone gets to turn pretty at their sixteenth birthday. Peris, her friend, already turned pretty a month ago and she is dying to join him on the other side of the river…

Here are the quotes that I was able to glean from this book:

For a full review of this book, see my book review:

• Pick Me! – Uglies by Scott Westerfeld – Book Review

I blazed through the latest Harry Potter book within a couple of days. All my free time was spent reading. Every time I read a book, I am looking for quotations. J. K. Rowling is particularly good at writing quotable phrases. Here are the few that I gleaned from her latest book.

I had read the spoilers, so I thought the ending wasn’t going to be a surprise. I knew who was going to die at the end. The surprise was who the killer was…

A busy summer is no excuse to ignore Henry David Thoreau. After weeks of silence from me, I’ve finally found a reason to sacrifice some of my valuable time to this endeavor, the 144th anniversary of the publishing of Henry David Thoreau’s book, Walden.

It was one of those holidays when I received gifts, either Christmas or my birthday. I was in high school and I had asked my parents for a book by Henry David Thoreau. My mother nodded as if she knew that I really didn’t know what I wanted, “Why do you want that?” My only answer was some mumblings about wanting to read the book, when in reality, a teacher of mine had recommended it with a brief description of Thoreau’s philosophy. When I received my present I knew it was a book by its weight, but still said, “I wonder what it is.” My grandfather had a knowing look in his eye and replied, “It’s Walden.” I’m sure he was so positive of my lack of research that he was safe telling me that much, but I had learned the title of the book I wanted, even though I didn’t know why I wanted it. I smiled and eagerly tore the wrapping paper saying, “Alright, Henry David Thoreau!”

I tried to read the book. It sits on my book shelf beside other unread classics that I have purchased because a library “should” have them. Walden was my first experience with the act of buying a book because “smart” people read books like that. No matter how smart I become, I still find myself doing that. Ironically, my quote collection has tons of Thoreau quotes that I find true and lovely. I think I will rescue my copy of Walden and read it for myself.

In other news, Quotes of the Week might not be so weekly for the rest of the summer. With that I will leave you with the first Thoreau quote.

Introduction and quote compilation by Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer.

“Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.”

• Walden Paperback by Henry David Thoreau – Every library should have it and its spine should be well cracked. (I’m going to crack mine as soon as I’m finished here.)
• Civil Disobedience, Solitude and Life Without Principle Paperback by Henry David Thoreau – The justification for his rebellion (he refused to pay taxes because of the Mexican American War).
• Henry David Thoreau : Three Complete Books Hardcover by Henry David Thoreau – Get Walden, Cape Cod, and The Maine Woods in a hardbound edition surely to last forever in your bookcase (especially if you don’t read it).
• The Portable Thoreau Paperback by Henry David Thoreau, Carl Bode – If you are actually planning on reading his works, this is the book to buy. At 698 pages, it hardly seems portable, but you receive a collection of his works to keep you reading for awhile. Enjoy!

• Thoreau World Wide – A good introduction to Henry David Thoreau. Make sure you read Background behind Walden.