Tag: novel

The Ambassadors by Henry James

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 6 Comments

Trying to read The Ambassadors by Henry James on a full charter bus. I grabbed it because it was small enough to fit in my purse. However my decision to start a new book on a loud bus with children and parents talking all around me was probably mistake. How did I forget I need complete silence or white noise to read? I can’t even listen to music because it’s so loud. And now they’ve just turned on a movie so I guess I’ll give up (the speaker is above my head) and stare into the abyss. I feel like the story in the book is going on without me since I’m not comprehending it but rather eavesdropping on the conversations around me against my desire to do so. Oh well. Everyone has got an interesting story to tell.

What about you? Can you read in chaos? Or do you need silence like me?

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The book of Deuteronomy

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

I have no authority to teach you about the books in the Bible. You might disagree with me and that’s OK. 👇👇👇

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“Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordon to posses.” -Deuteronomy 11:8

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In Deuteronomy we hear from Moses himself about the journey into the promise land. But if we take this from a symbolic viewpoint, we see that he is telling that the journey is hard even for the ‘chosen’. Hardships and sacrifices will surely come when we decide to truly follow a holy path—not perfect, but living in the Holy Spirit, recognizing God’s presence in our own being. People will try to make ‘war’ against you when you live this way, because naturally you will become a more gentle and tender person. They might not think you’re fun anymore. They may try to make you feel like you’re lame or boring because you won’t join in with the gossip or masochistic recreation (whatever that may be; little acts of hate can damage the soul). We might have to kill many relationships that are damaging in order to truly follow a new clean path and live in the Spirit—“the land that we are trying to possess”. We may have to cut ties with relationships that may be unheathly and fight against what we’re trying to obtain in a clean mind, body, and spirit. We may have to cut ties with those who fight against a new ‘us’ even if it means cutting ties with parts of ourselves.

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Lamiel by Stendhal

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

Lamiel, which means devil’s daughter, was the unfinished last novel of Stendhal or Henri Beyle. Because it was unfinished I think Stendhal, if he would have lived, would have made it very different had he the time to edit it. Because it was so sparse regarding detail it is called his best work. I don’t know about that. Lamiel, the protagonist, is on a ‘journey’ to find out what love is. However she is what I would call someone without feeling(a sociopath?)she wants instead violence, she’s frustrated by men if they’re too gaga for her, she plays games with them for her own gain. She’s a hateful character. I really didn’t enjoy the book, plus it’s unfinished, the last half is quickly summarized in one chapter. Critics at the time it was published said it is very true to life, which it isn’t at all. But Stendhal was known for putting a microscope on the psychology of human characters, so as far as that is concerned the work is superb. .

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It’s a cute little copy: 1953. It is rare and in good condition. .

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The Book of Numbers

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 12 Comments

*I have no authority to teach you lessons from the Bible, I only hope you will find something useful. You might disagree with my interpretation and that’s OK!

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“When you cross the Jordan in to Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.” –Numbers 33:51

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OK verses such as the above are what gives God a bad rap. It sounds violent and scary and seems to advertise war. But I will tell you that you must not look at the surface for the meaning in scripture, people that do often miss the truth and can interpret wrongly. Go deeper and this verse takes on a different shape entirely: Before your spirit can settle in peace with God and with yourself, drive out all things that are holding you back from a true and pure existence—all that you consider an ‘idol’ should be destroyed. For me, for a long time, my ‘idol’ getting traditionally published. I prayed and prayed for this to happen. But it wasn’t until I read this verse and saw my own folly in holding that goal on a pedestal of importance over many other things, and asking myself exactly WHY I wanted my books out there (was it for selfish reasons, or was my goal to help people?), that I was able to give up the idea and decide instead to be happy no matter what happened to all my books, poems, essays and dedicate my writing to the purpose of GOOD. Once I did this I found a publisher. Call that whatever you like, but I know where this gift came from. Have faith and hope that God will show you the way, but we must be patient and trust Him with all our hearts. That’s what I think anyway.

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For the Bride: Today is our Wedding Anniversary

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 5 Comments

For The Bride: A scrapbook for brides from 1920’s. My mother gave me this as a sort of joke on my anniversary one year along with a book called, The Silent Hostess, also another inside joke. .

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My husband and I were married 14 years ago today. I was 22 years old. It was 70 degrees in Michigan, and the leaves were still brilliantly colored on all the trees. We were indeed blessed. It was before everyone got really creative with wedding pics. Ours are very standard and professionally posed. Nothing fancy like people all jumping at the same time or pictures of shoes and rings, etc. Some details I remember: Our photographer had been hit by a car that day and had managed to limp his way to our wedding despite this. There were ladybugs flying all over the place, got themselves caught in my veil, on my gown, in the hair of bridesmaids and groomsmen. My uncle Jack flew in from California to surprise me on this day, and my dad asked if I was nervous before he walked me down the aisle. I denied being nervous but hummed Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture because I WAS nervous (and because I’m a weirdo). I couldn’t find Bryan for most of the event, and everyone kept asking if I was pregnant. 😂 .

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Here’s to all the brides out there!

Cheers 🥂 .

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Inside the Detroit Public Library

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 6 Comments

Spent yesterday going through the archives in the Detroit Public Library’s Burton Historical Collection. What a beautiful library! It’s what I would like my personal library to look like, and what it’ll have to look like if I keep buying books! 😂 The interior is so vintage—late 1950’s, early 1960’s I’m guessing. 🥰

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Desert Islands by Walter de la Mare

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If any of you would like to read an interesting book (which I’m sure you do), please try Walter de la Mare’s Desert Islands. I have a rule to buy any work of Walter de la Mare’s that I don’t already have; I like him a lot.

Desert Islands is sort of a collection of essays (that’s what I would call it because no two chapters seem to flow together) that not only examine themes of isolation in stories like Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe, but also Mare documents accounts of isolation in stages of Morphine-induced hallucinations from famous writers and letters written by scholars on the subject. It was a wonderful discovery. Every page was like a candle lit in some dark corner of a history forgotten. I can’t imagine there is another book quite like it out there.

This hard cover copy is a 1930 illustrated edition set against an old 1909 postcard and some shells and sand from California.

The book of Leviticus

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ Leave a comment

*Disclaimer: Again, I have no authority to teach you, if you disagree with my thinking that’s OK!

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It’s Friday which means I’m sharing our next book of the Bible! I will say Leviticus and Numbers (I will talk about Numbers in two weeks) are two of the hardest books to get through because they, to me, are a bit boring. But the book of Leviticus, written by Moses, shares with us one of the most important and relevant verses. One which speaks profoundly to our present time and political atmosphere:

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.” –Leviticus 19:33-34

Not only can this be applied to our own U.S. border, but also to when you get introduced to your future in-laws, or a newcomer in the neighborhood, workplace, or religious organization. It is one of two important verses I have noted from this book. Most of the book is filled with strict instruction on how to keep the sabbath holy and ourselves holy. It feels very primitive to me. Some might find this interesting, but I was rather bored. Yet I see where it is an incredibly important addition to the Bible itself. Next week I’ll share thoughts on Galatians.

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Proper Mourning by Brianne Turczynski

~ Brianne Turczynski ~ 2 Comments

I can’t do a book review today, but I wanted to share my little work of fiction is up on amazon and Barnes and Noble. http://bit.ly/ProperMourning

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I continue to pursue an agent and publishers for my other fiction and poetry, but a few years ago I felt my first novel should get off my flash drive and come alive on the market, because I come alive every time someone reads it—and I need to be alive!! Self publishing is no joke. It is hard work—you have to learn many new skills—and to be successful you must go all the way with it.

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LOST STORY: 🤫 There were so many grammatical errors that it was impossible to find them all. In my last round, the computer read it aloud to me, but I kept falling asleep—not because I was bored but because I have read it 1,000,000 times!! So if you find a little error it is because I dozed off right there, which makes for a more intimate reading experience for you because you know this fact, don’t you think? Now don’t tell anyone I told you that! Mum’s the word! 🤭😉

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Many authors are ashamed of their first novel, including Stephen King. W. Somerset Maugham actually tried to sue his publisher because he wouldn’t take his first novel off the market. 😂 So, am I ashamed? No. Although my art and skill has advanced, of course, and will continue to do so, this work is very precious to me, because it is where I found myself and my life renewed. I could curl up with this book and sleep with it every night I love it so much!

.Plus—my husband drew the owl and he’s so cute!

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