writing « Natalie Breuer

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1.) Writing ~ The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

I originally went to the bookstore looking for Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, but it was out of stock, so instead, I bought a copy of his 1979 novel The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. The book is divided into seven parts ~ each one separate but somehow related to the others. Some are love stories, some deal with grief, and some recall Czech history. I found each one to be incredibly profound and beautiful ~ definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for one to read. Below are some of my favorite quotes from the novel.

Favorite part ~ Part Four: Lost Letters

Favorite quotes ~

“The woman he had loved most (he was thirty at the time) would tell him (he was nearly in despair when he heard it) that she held on to life by a thread. Yes, she did want to live, life gave her great joy, but she also knew that her ‘I want to live’ was spun from the threads of a spiderweb.”

“And I ran after that voice through the streets so as not to lose sight of the splendid wreath of bodies gliding over the city, and I realized with anguish in my heart that they were flying like birds and I was falling like a stone, that they had wings and I would never have any.”

“Love can never be laughable. Love has nothing in common with laughter.”

“ It takes so little, so infinitely little, for someone to find himself on the other side of the border, where everything – love, convictions, faith, history – no longer has meaning. “

“But is she really listening? Or is she merely looking at them so attentively, so silently? I don’t know, and it’s not very important. What matters is that she doesn’t interrupt anyone. You know what happens when to people talk. One of them speaks and the other breaks in.”

2.) Art ~ Dreamlands Exhibit, The Whitney

One of the most mesmerizing exhibits I went to last year. The gallery combined light, cinema and color to replicate a dimension that can only be visited in dreams.

Some pictures from the exhibit below (click to enlarge) ~

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3.) Film ~ Manchester by the Sea

A very, very sad movie, and yet one of my favorites from the year. If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s about an uncle having to take care of his nephew immediately after his brother’s death. Although heart-breaking at times, the writing is incredible as well as the acting, and I really recommending seeing it.

4.) Music ~ Home Albums IV and V

This December, I discovered Post-Parlo Records’ Home series which is a collection of split albums between two artists. The entire album is co-written by the two artists except for the last two songs in which each artist covers a song written by the other (hopefully I explained that well).

My two favorite volumes are Home Volume V (split between Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Andrew Kenny of The American Analog Set) and Home Volume VI (split between Bright Eyes and Britt Daniel of Spoon).

5.) Fashion ~ French Anthropologie

I always prefer shopping on French sites for clothes, because after living in France for a year in high school, I discovered that France is ahead of the curve with regards to upcoming trends. Recently, I’ve been loving Anthropologie France’s stuff ~ definitely take a look at the looks I’ve posted down below and click to shop if you like any of them! They also have some great sales going on after the holidays ~ I’ve also found that French clothing sites have better sales than American clothing ones, so the shipping costs are very manageable.