Commonplace Posts

My favorite book (and corresponding movie) is October Sky : The extraordinary story of four boys from a coal-mining town in West Virginia, who discover their fascination of rocketry following their witnessing of Sputnik soaring overhead, winning first place at a national science fair and making their way into the world when nearly everyone doubted them at first. A great nature quote from the book is: "I was proud to live in Coalwood. According to the West Virginia history books, no one had ever lived in the valleys and hills of McDowell County before we came to dig out the coal." (Hickam, Jr. pg.5). Homer Hickam, Jr. allows the reader to visualize an empty Coalwood before it became Coalwood; vast valleys and hills covered in dead brown grass in the winter months, only for its black base to be later used for resources.

There is a quote from Memory of Water  that specifically caught my eye as I was reading it: "Bright as a reflection in a clear mirror, I saw myself, walking and learning the scent and twists of the unfamiliar streets between the buildings of a strange city like one learns a language. And beyond that, a landscape of my own, for me to discover and make my home." I particularly like how the author, Emmi Itäranta, refers to the act of becoming familiar with a new city being much like that of learning a whole new language. Also, the term 'landscape' is used here to describe a place to be made home, for someone to call their own. A place where one and the earth could coexist.

In the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH , a quote about an area known as Thorn Valley wonderfully portrays the beauty of it: "It was beautiful and still, a wild and lonely place. Through the green and yellow treetops below us I could see the water of the ponds sparkling in the sun." While a bit stereotypical, the description still takes the reader there to this tranquil spot. With the use of colorful adjectives and playful visuals, the reader can enjoy this scene.