How to Save Your Own Life
5 journalers for this copy...
mailed 9/1/04 as a BookRelay request
I think I sort of read Erica Jong as a lark, when I open her books. She's very pedantic and strange, though, in her time, I understand she was innovative and edgy. Hmm. Yes.
Journal Entry 4 by Merinda at Surface Mail in Controlled Release, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Monday, October 25, 2004
Released 19 yrs ago (10/24/2004 UTC) at Surface Mail in Controlled Release, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
Released via BookRelay.com...
Released via BookRelay.com...
Erica Jong's novel just arrived today--thank you, Merinda!
I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this novel--I wasn't expecting it to be so timeless and relevant. Sure, it is dated, but not in ways that are important. Jong uses some wonderful quotes and provides plenty of insight and food for thought.
This is a novel about how she finally gets out of a hideous relationship, and about her other friendships and romances, as well. She writes a lot about the various forms of jealousy which had been so much on her mind.
"Jealousy is all the fun you think they had..." Jealousy requires an imagination, sometimes a very productive one, and it can be dangerous and destructive. SO true. The novel contains plenty of professional jealousy, as well as the romantic type.
Most of all, though, Jong is communicating the idea that no matter how much it hurts, real love--not a relationship born out of seeking mere security, but unconditional, substantial love--is worth the risk of pain. It takes courage to reject cynicism and remain open-hearted.
Oh, and then there's a paragraph on p. 195 that shows Jong to be a true Bookcrosser!
"...Books go out into the world, travel mysteriously from hand to hand, and somehow find their way to the people who need them at the times when they need them. Josh had read my poems two years before because his parents and I had a friend in common and the books had been passed along. Cosmic forces guide such passings-along...The book propels itself from hand to hand by the tranmitted energy of the author's long-distance wishing. When you find a book in a rented beach house or the library of an old ocean liner, it is hardly by chance. The book is waiting there, waiting summer after salty summer, perhaps, to change your life...."
This book definitely enhanced my life, and I'm so happy it came into my hands. Thank you, Merinda!
This is a novel about how she finally gets out of a hideous relationship, and about her other friendships and romances, as well. She writes a lot about the various forms of jealousy which had been so much on her mind.
"Jealousy is all the fun you think they had..." Jealousy requires an imagination, sometimes a very productive one, and it can be dangerous and destructive. SO true. The novel contains plenty of professional jealousy, as well as the romantic type.
Most of all, though, Jong is communicating the idea that no matter how much it hurts, real love--not a relationship born out of seeking mere security, but unconditional, substantial love--is worth the risk of pain. It takes courage to reject cynicism and remain open-hearted.
Oh, and then there's a paragraph on p. 195 that shows Jong to be a true Bookcrosser!
"...Books go out into the world, travel mysteriously from hand to hand, and somehow find their way to the people who need them at the times when they need them. Josh had read my poems two years before because his parents and I had a friend in common and the books had been passed along. Cosmic forces guide such passings-along...The book propels itself from hand to hand by the tranmitted energy of the author's long-distance wishing. When you find a book in a rented beach house or the library of an old ocean liner, it is hardly by chance. The book is waiting there, waiting summer after salty summer, perhaps, to change your life...."
This book definitely enhanced my life, and I'm so happy it came into my hands. Thank you, Merinda!
Erica Jong goes to Romania!
This book is now in Romania. I'll read and then |'ll find a new reader for it. Thanks so much for this RABCK (and for the lovely postcard - I liked the quote a lot)
Journal Entry 9 by Mizuchy from Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania and Partium Romania on Sunday, July 13, 2008
Got this huge batch of books from a friend, I'm looking forward to reading them all!
