enchanting

just re-started reading salman rushie's the enchantress of florence. (i got about 50 pages in a few months ago and managed to neglect the act of reading for some time due to .. life.)

i must say, it only takes about a sentence for this book to creep back under my skin and make me grin. the mind grapes start juicing and i get all kinds of comfy; sinking in for the long haul. even if the story were garbage (which it isn't), the prose is beautiful. the philosophical musings interspersed so seamlessly with character and setting development that you forget you're reading a story.

don't worry, no spoilers here, but i must set up the following AWESOME quote by saying that the emperor, despite his palace full of concubines, has imagined himself up a wife. she's 'imaginary.' and the this quote is spoken by her speaking to him:

when a boy dreams up a woman he gives her big breasts and a small brain. when a king imagines a wife he dreams of me.

that quote hit me like a hammer. i immediately reached for my pen. probably because it speaks to the boring desirability of a well-endowed woman who longs for nothing but to please a man, versus the unattainability of a strong, questioning, intellectual woman.

another, you ask? ok. this one is dear to my heart for obvious reasons:

witchcraft requires no potions, familiar spirits, or magic words. language upon a silvered tongue affords enchantment enough.

chew on that.