Pillars of the Earth

My selections are biased. It was a good book, really. I read it voraciously. It was an Oprah Book Club book, so don't judge it by what I choose to like! I will add that the most poignant parts for me were when they were starving - that actually made me think.

Lust never completely ceased to afflict him, but it did eventually become less important, so that it bothered him only now and again, on the rare occasion when his mind and body were idle; like an old injury that hurts in wet weather.

She saw him close his eyes and bend his face towards hers, and then she felt his mouth on her own. His kiss was gentle. He had full lips and a soft beard. She closed her eyes to concentrate on the sensation. His mouth moved against hers, and it seemed natural to part her lips. Her mouth had suddenly become ultra sensitive, so that she could feel the lightest touch, the tiniest movement. The tip of his tongue caressed the inside of her upper lip. She felt so overwhelmed with happiness that she wanted to cry. She pressed her body against his, crushing her soft breasts against his hard chest, feeling the bones of his hip dig into her belly. She was no longer merely relieved he was safe, and glad to have him here. Now there was a new emotion. His physical presence filled her with an ecstatic sensation that made her slightly dizzy. Holding his body in her arms, she wanted to touch him more, to feel more of him, to get even closer. She rubbed his back with her hands. She wanted to feel his skin, but his clothes frustrated her. Without thinking, she opened her mouth and pushed her tongue between his lips. He made a small animal sound in the back of his throat, like a muffled moan of delight.

He was heartbroken. She had kissed him like she loved him, there was no mistaking that. When she left the mill he felt sure they would kiss like that again, soon. He walked around in an erotic haze, thinking: Aliena loves me! ...When she avoided him he thought at first that she was just embarrassed. He waited for her to get over her shyness. ...When it had gone on not just for a few days, but for several weeks, he was forced to admit there was something seriously wrong. A tidal wave of disillusionment engulfed him, and he felt as if he would drown in regret. he was baffled. ...and then the constant feeling of rejection began to get to him, and he felt worthless, stupid, and impotent. He thought how foolish he was, to imagine that the most desirable woman in the county might fall for him. He had amused her for a while, with his stories and his jokes...After a week or two of telling himself how stupid he was he began to get angry. He was irritable at work...On Sunday he wasted his wages..All the passion came out of his work...On one corbel he carved a disturbingly twisted human figure with an expression of pain, condemned, as it were, to an eternity of agony as he held up the vast weight of stone. Jack knew it was brilliant...when Tom saw it he just shook his head. (Sorry, tired of typing, p. 562ish I think, look it up yourself Abby.)

Clearly ambition was to blame. Monks did better to live a life of resignation, accepting the tribulations and setbacks of this world as lessons in patience, taught by the Almighty. As Philip helped to carry the groaning wounded and the unresisting dead out of the ruins of the cathedral, he resolved that in the future he would leave it to God to be ambitious and pushing; he, Philip, would passively accept whatever happened. If God wanted a Cathedral, God would provide a quarry; if the town was burned, it should be taken as a sign that God did not want a fleece fair; and now that the church had fallen down, Philip would not rebuild it.

As he reached that decision, he saw William Hamleigh. (drum roll)

It's all so hurtful.

Other pages of interest:
p.81

p.156
p.278
p.281, 282
p.571
p.573
p.628

Words I didn't know for sure or know quite how to pronounce:
rectitude
fecundity
bilious
chilblain
vacillate
perfunctory

quiescent

lugubriously

apoplectic