“Wise as she was, she realized that people can postpone their rebellious phases until they’re eighty-five years old, and she decided to keep an eye on herself.” – Tove Jansson, ‘The Summer Book’
Marking a whiplash-inducing 180-degree turnabout from that beast known as ‘House of Leaves‘, this is my current reading material, ‘The Summer Book’ by Tove Jansson. It takes place on an island, which may have been more at home last summer when we were all about the island business. Summer being timeless, it works just as well this year – and in fact may be the respite we need right about now.
“Sometimes people never saw things clearly until it was too late and they no longer had the strength to start again. Or else they forgot their idea along the way and didn’t even realize that they had forgotten.” – Tove Jansson, ‘The Summer Book’
Having just taken the first turn of the season one month into its glory, it seems like a good place to reset and recalibrate as we eagerly anticipate the close of this Mercury in retrograde motion moment – it’s been a doozy, and there’s still a shadow period to overcome. We are never quite as out of the woods as we like to think we are, but we’re getting there.
“It’s funny about love,” Sophia said. “The more you love someone, the less he likes you back.”
“That’s very true,'” Grandmother observed. “And so what do you do?”
“You go on loving,” said Sophia threateningly. “You love harder and harder.” – Tove Jansson, ‘The Summer Book’
