Saturday, March 08, 2008

Making the Cat Laugh by Lynne Truss

I've come to realize that I never post about books here anymore. As such, my new rule is that I'll either post quotes from each book I finish or I'll do something non-nonsensical like post a 5 word review of the book.

Without further ado, here are the quotes I pulled out of Making the Cat Laugh: One Woman's Journal of Single life on the Margins by Lynne Truss.

Hadn't I always thought, rather naively, that there was still time to make these decisions about wife-and-motherhood in the future -- that the crossroads were just over the horizon? But it turns out that the last exit was miles back, and I am a person whose chosen path speaks for itself. The hardest part was realizing I can never be a teenage tennis phenomenon. How on earth did I let things drift so badly? -- page 8

A friend of mine was married to a chap possessed of this spirit of enquiry, who carried a Swiss Army penknife at all times, and would offer to make new holes in watch-straps (sometimes when you didn't want one). At dinner parties he was noted for telling stories of fast-thinking chaps with Swiss Army penknives who had saved lives by performing emergency tracheotomies. Understandably, everybody kept quite quiet after this, and chewed very carefully. The slightest choke, and you knew he was likely to leap from his seat and cut your throat. -- page 33

He likes books for their own sake. And when people look at his shelves and say, 'Have you read all these?', he replies without embarrassment, 'No, but I live in hope.' -- page 187

On Christmas Day after lunch, I like the whole family to gather around the fire and play word-games. Which is a shame because a) I don't have a fire; and b) everybody except me is a cat. -- page 203

4 comments:

Sherry said...

I, too, live in hope. And I hope heaven will be a lot like the Library of Congress, but more accessible.

Framed said...

Great quotes. If the rest of the book is this funny, I will love it.

Pamela said...

chewed very carefully. that was wonderful.
I recall reading The Dollmaker (set in the Kentucky hills turn of the century... and the woman performs a trach on her small child with a carving knife. It really impressed (and scared) me.

I think Jane Fonda starred in the movie version which I never saw.

Mercy's Maid said...

Sherry-- Yes, I loved that part because I have a lot of books that I haven't gotten around to yet!

Framed--It's very funny. I would imagine it's even better if you're British. Some of it was so British that I just didn't quite "get" it.

Pamela--Eek! I'm known for panicking when I see someone choking, so I doubt I could ever be that brave. I'm also known for laughing when someone is choking, but that's a STRESS reaction, not because choking is funny to me. :)