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15.2.12
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The Lover's Dictionary
You know how sometimes when you are riding the public transit and you see someone reading a book and go, "Why is he/she reading that in public?" Well, yesterday I was that, but the offending party. See, I was reading a fiction book entitled The Lover's Dictionary, written by David Levithan, and yesterday so happened to be Valentine's Day. Was I a little sappy or pretentious? I wouldn't blame you if you thought that. However, in my defence, I was already reading the book days before that dreaded day for singles, and to be completely fair, it is a brilliantly written novel. Short and succinct, it uses a mix of words that you can find in a dictionary, some fancy-schmancy while others simple, to bring a bittersweet relationship to life.
I don't usually tag sentences or paragraphs with a post-it note while I read, but I just had to for two different anecdotes in the book. And I'm sure as I re-read the book at various points in my life, each word and accompanying story would bring different meanings and reactions from my part.
From page 109:
harbinger, n.
When I was in third grade, we would play that game at recess where you'd twist an apple while holding on to its stem, reciting the alphabet, one letter for each turn. When the stem broke, the name of your true love would be revealed.
Whenever I played, I always made sure that the apple broke at K. At the time I was doing this because no one in my grade had a name that began with a K. Then, in college, it seemed like everyone I fell for was a K. It was enough to make me give up on the letter, and I didn't even associate it with you until later on, when I saw your signature on a credit card receipt, and the only legible letter was that first K.
I will admit: When I got home that night, I went to the refrigerator and took out another apple. But I stopped twisting at J and put the apple back.
You see, I didn't trust myself. I knew that even if the apple wasn't ready, I was going to pull that stem.
From page 203:
x, n.
Doesn't it strike you as strange that we have a letter in the alphabet that nobody uses? It represents one-twenty-sixth of the possibility of our language, and we let it languish. If you and I really, truly wanted to change the world, we'd invent more words that started with x.
No, there aren't any relevances of those stories to my reality. But they touched me. As I said, I might have been a little sappy and pretentious.
I hope everyone had a lovely, or love-filled, Valentine's Day!
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Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to lie
Life taught me to die
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