The large number of posts of late has more to do with the fact that I had stockpiled completed books, even renewing some from the library to hold onto until I got to write about them (rather than me all of a sudden reading a tremendous number of books...!)
It wasn't a lack of time to write; it was a lack of will. I go through phases where I don't feel like it - for weeks or even months at a time. But now and again I just get on a roll and enjoy it so much. Even working on my other writing - sometimes by hand, as I feel I just never get a chance to write with a pen much anymore, apart from list after list of to-dos. It's nice to write with a pen for fun, it reminds me of my diary in high school, only much less dramatic now.
Along with The Borrowers, and now Tuck Everlasting, I feel like I'm catching up on some of the classics that I never read in school. And much like The Borrowers, I was sadly disappointed with the ending to Tuck Everlasting. But I'll get to that in a moment.
First I'll share my favorite, very poignant, part. It's when Tuck is sharing, teaching Winnie about why their life is not a life at all. "...[D]ying's part of the wheel, right there next to being born. You can't pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing, that's the blessing. But it's passing us by, us Tucks." (p. 63). It's a heartbreaking moment, when Tuck shares their pain with someone for the first time in such a long time. And Winnie, a child, can only process it so far.
Perhaps it is her naivete that causes her to do what she does - give the spring water to the toad. I just... the romantic in me wanted her to run away with Jesse. But I suppose it was the teen in Jesse that wanted Winnie to come, the youthful idealism. And Winnie would have been just as miserable as the Tucks. But I just - that's where I wanted the story to end - a teen Winnie off into the night, into the world, with Jesse.
I still don't understand the toad. But would definitely recommend you read it!
Title: The Borrowers
Author: Natalie Babbitt
Published: 1975 (originally), 2007 (my copy)
Publisher: Square Fish
Pages: 139
Total Books Blogged: 18
Total Pages: 5514
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