Friday 56

Friday 56, August 19, 2022

/ E.A. Hoffmann / Leave a comment

Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.

One of them explosions send a bunch of shit flying into our pit an them boys on the far side get hit with it an start screamin an yellin an bleedin an grappin at theyselfs. It were all too apparent that the pit was not a safe place to be hidin. Sergeant Kranz suddenly appear over the edge of the pit, an he holler for all of us to get the hell out of there an follow him. There is a little break between explosions an we haul ass out of the pit. I come over the top an look down an godalmighty! Lyin there is four or five of the fellers who was squirtin the hose on us. They is hardley recognizable as people–all mangled up like they has been stuffed thru a cotton baler or somethin. I ain’t never seen nobody dead, an it is the most horrible and scary thing ever happen to me, afore or since!”

Forest Gump by Winston Groom

At this point in the book, Forrest has been sent to Vietnam (he was drafted), even though he is of below average intelligence (and even though they did not accept him in the first draft). This scene describes when they were being shelled in the foxhole and upon getting out, Forrest sees dead American soldiers, who were hosing down Forrest and others because they hadn’t bathed in over a week.

This particular passage shows the horrors of war, and really impacts events in Forrest’s life later on in the book.

Friday 56, August 5, 2022

/ E.A. Hoffmann / 2 Comments

Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.

I place the book back on the shelf. ‘Which is your favorite?’

‘I haven’t read any of them, either. Not since her first book.’

I spin and look at him. ‘Really?’

‘I didn’t like being inside her head.’

I hold back my smile, but he sounds a little bit like Corey right now. Unable to separate the world his wife creates from the one she lives in. At least Jeremy seems to be a little more self-aware than Corey ever was.”

Verity by Colleen Hoover

At this point in the book, Lowen has been hired to complete the famous series written by Verity, who is unable to complete them herself owing to the fact that she is in a catatonic state following a car accident. Lowen is at the home of Verity, and her husband Jeremy, where she is going through Verity’s office to find outlines or other items which may help her complete the series.

Lowen is in a strange place in her life — her mother just died, she broke up with her boyfriend (? lover?) Corey, who is also her literary agent. Corey wanted to be with Lowen because he initially fell in love with the character of her book and thought that the character was based on Lowen. Lowen and her character were very different, which ultimately led to the break up.

In the quote above, Lowen is seeing some similarities between Corey and Jeremy, in that they both seem to compare the characters of a fictional book to their significant other. There is also some tension between Lowen and Jeremy, it could be one sided, but we don’t know yet.

I have to say this book has gripped me from the first page and I am looking forward to reading more.

Friday 56, July 22, 2022

/ E.A. Hoffmann / Leave a comment

Welcome to Friday 56! Hosted by Freda’s Voice, you turn to page 56 or 56% in any book or reading device and pick a sentence that grabs you.

He looked at me. His eyes narrowed. The lashes were the same red-gold as his hair, so they showed up only when you were close to him. And I had no business at all thinking about Sam’s eyelashes, or any other part of him, for that matter.”

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

This quote is actually from page 55 because page 56 is the last page of the chapter and therefore only a half page. This is the fifth book in the series, and although nothing has ever happened between Sookie and her boss, Sam (who is a shape shifter that mostly shifts into a collie), there is always some sexual tension between the two characters. I think that there are about 13 books in this series total, so I wonder whether Sookie and Sam will get together at some point.