Welcome to Litsy!

#AlphabetGame #letterL

Last tonight is my L book. The 1st in the Thomas Covenant,The Unbeliever series, I first read it when I was a teenager. And boy is it dark. But shining through the whole trilogy is a beautiful thread of hope, carried by the people of the Land, even when they‘re at their bleakest. Powerful book with a strong message.

“Around him, darkness lurked like #vulture wings made of midnight.” #QuotsySep21

#refresh #QuotsyJun21

“Are you a storyteller, Thomas Covenant?"
Absently he replied, "I was, once."
"And you gave it up? Ah, that is as sad a tale in three words as any you might have told me. But a life without a tale is like a sea without salt. How do you live?"
"I live."
"Another?" Foamfollower returned. "In two words, a story sadder than the #first. Say no more -- with one word you will make me weep.” #QuotsyApr21

“We will not redesecrate the Land, though the effort of self-mastery wither us on the #vine of our lives. Nor will we rest until the shadow of our former folly is lifted from the Land‘s heart, and the darkness is whelmed in growth and life.” #QuotsyFeb21

He had never before removed his white gold wedding band; despite his divorce, and Joan‘s unanswering silence, he had kept the #ring on his finger. It was an icon of himself. It reminded him of where he had been and where he was — of promises made and broken, helplessness — and of his vestigial humanity. Now he tore it off his left hand and dropped it in the bowl. “That‘s worth more than a few coins,” he said, and stamped away. #QuotsyFeb21

“In the #dizzy round of his dilemma, the only response which steadied him was vitriol. He clung to his bitter anger as to an anchor of sanity; he needed fury in order to survive, to keep his grip like a stranglehold on life. Some days he went from sun to sun without any rest from rage.” #QuotsyOct20

“...followed her down the file as if her #stiff back were a demand he could not refuse. Before the day was done, he was an expert on that back. It never compromised; it never admitted a doubt about its authority; never offered the merest commiseration. Though his muscles tightened until they became as inarticulate as bone...her back compelled him like an ultimatum: keep moving or go mad; I permit no other alternatives.” #QuotsyOct20

We are the Unhomed-
lost voyagers of the world,
In the land beyond the Sunbirth Sea
we lived and had our homes and grew-
and set our sails to the wind,
unheeding of the peril of the lost.
We are the Unhomed-
From home and hearth,
stone sacred dwellings crafted by our reverent hands,
we set our sails to the wind of the stars,
and carried life to lands across the earth,
careless of the peril of our loss.
⬇️

“...the last glow of the sunset waved #orange and gold on the roof like an affectionate farewell. Then the sun was gone.” #QuotsyJuly20

“Something there is in
#beauty
which grows in the soul of
the beholder
like a flower:
fragile—
for many are the blights
that may waste
the beauty
or the beholder—
and imperishable—
for the beauty may die,
or the world may die,
but the soul in which the
flower grows
survives.”

#QuotsyJun20

“High Lord Prothall stopped on the crest of the hill, and gazed for a long time over the #Forest, weighing the time needed to ride around Morinmoss against the obscure dangers of the trees.
Finally he dismounted. He looked over the riders, and his eyes were full of potential anger as he spoke.”

#QuotsyJun20

“Under the spell of the river, Covenant became slowly more conscious of the reassuring solidity of the Land. It was not an intangible dreamscape; it was concrete, susceptible to ascertainment.” #solid #QuotsyApr20

#7books7days

Post a book that made an impression on you each day for 7 days.

Today‘s book is Lord Fouls Bane, a blend of magical realism & high fantasy that I read when I was 16yrs old. It taught me that heroes sometimes are not all good, they make bad decisions, hurt people and fight against their destiny, but they step up in the end.

#tangible #QuotsyApr20

“Welcome whole or hurt, in boon or bane — ask or give. To any requiring name we will not fail while we have life or power to meet the need.” #welcome #QuotsyMar20

“...he went to his hut in the woods and sat down to read what he had written on his new book. Its blind poverty left him aghast. To call it ridiculously naive would have been a #compliment. He could hardly believe he was responsible for such supercilious trash.” #QuotsyJan20

I love that this paragraph uses at least three synonyms for #discontent and hints at a couple more. #QuotsyJan20

“It may be that hope misleads. But hate—hate corrupts. I have been too quick to hate. I become like what I abhor.” #Corrupt #QuotsyDec19

“Joy is in the ears that hear, not in the mouth that speaks. The world has few stories glad in themselves, and we must have gay ears to defy Despite....Gladden your ears and #listen gaily, for I am no purveyor of sorrows...” #QuotsyNov19

“He took several relishing swallows, and at once felt deeply refreshed.” #relish #QuotsyNov19

“Their circle drew tighter as they ran. Their reeling strength snatched at his fear, pulled him around with them as if he were trying to face them all at once. His heart labored painfully. He could not turn #fast enough to keep up with them. The effort made him stumble, lose his balance, fall to his knees.” #QuotsyNov19

“...he found his old straight razor. Its long, stainless steel #blade gleamed like a leer in the fluorescent light...but he stropped it deliberately, lathered his face, braced his timorous bones against the sink, and set the edge to his throat. It felt like a cold line of fire across his jugular, a keen threat of blood and gangrene and reactivated leprosy. If his half-unfingered hand slipped or twitched, the consequences might be extreme.”

This is the beginning of the Song of the Unhomed, sung by the Giant, Saltheart Foamfollower, to Thomas Covenant. #Voyage #QuotsyNov19 #Home #PoetryMatters @TheSpineView

“But their need for aloneness does not divide them from the people. They are given the Rites of Unfettering, and freed from all common demands, to quest after their own lore with the blessing of the Lords and the respect of all who love the Land. For the Lords learned long ago that the desire for aloneness need not be a selfish desire, if it is not made so by those who do not feel it.” #freedom #QuotsyNov19

“He did not know where he was. He had never seen this before. How had he come here? He had been hit by a police car, and Foul had brought him here. Foul had brought him here?” #marooned #QuotsyNov19

“Gradually, the night stumbled as if stunned and wandering aimlessly into an overcast day—limped through the wilderland of transition as though there were no knowing where the waste of #darkness ended and the ashes of light began.” #QuotsyOct19

“As he stepped across the threshold, Covenant's nostrils were assaulted by a pungent reek, a smell like that of rotten flesh lying in a latrine. It defied mere carbolic acid and ointments to mask it. It came from a shrunken figure sitting grotesquely on the white bed. Slowly the patient raised his arms as if to embrace Covenant. His hands were swollen stumps, fingerless lumps of pink, sick meat marked by cracks and ulcerations...” #grotesque

“In rage at his outcasting, he sought to #defy it, to assert the rights of his common mortal blood.” #QuotsySept19

There must be someone out there who read this series. I was hooked as an alternative to Tolkien

Saltheart Foamfollower said boldly, "My Lord, we have not reached our end. True, the work of our lifetime has been to comprehend and consolidate the gains of our forebearers. But our labour will open the doors of the future. Our children and their children will gain because we have not lost heart, for faith and courage are the greatest gift that we can give to our descendants.” #Legacy #QuotsyJuly19

“The Mithil was narrow and brisk where the path first joined it, and spoke with wet rapidity to itself in a voice full of resonances and rumors. But as the river drew toward the plains, it broadened and slowed, became more philosophical in its low, self-communing mutter. Soon its voice no longer filled the air. Quietly it told itself its long tale as it rolled away on its quest for the sea.” #River #QuotsyJuly19

”While they slept, the sky found some release for its tension. Blue lightning flailed the Hills; #thunder groaned in long suppressed pain. When the travelers awoke, the sun stood over them, and their clothes were drenched with the night‘s rain. But sunshine and morning could not unscar their wounded memories.” #QuotsyJune19

“Why not #destroy yourself?”

“That‘s too easy.”

“Take back the ring. Be true. You need not fail.”

...He hesitated, wondering what this old man had to do with him. But he had to make some kind of response. He took the ring and replaced it on his left hand. Then he said, “Everybody fails. But I am going to survive—as long as I can.”

#QuotsyJune19

“He prowled through the woods behind Haven Farm...Every cluttered trail, sharp rock, steep slope reminded him that he was keeping himself alive with caution...he had only to let his surveillance slip to go unmourned and painless out of his troubles. It gave him nothing but an additional sorrow to touch the bark of a tree and feel nothing. He saw clearly the end that waited for him.” #forest #QuotsyMay19

Divorced, numb, impotent, isolated with nothing in his life but VSE and hyper vigilance to barely live through his days. He gets transported to The Land when he is almost hit by a police car. The Land is in dire peril and the only person who can save the Land is the one who believes the Land is a figment of his feverish mind. What will Covenant do? Will he go crazy? Will the Land prevail?

#Coward #QuotsyMay19

This is a book I have to write a review for, once I learn how to write one properly that is.
A main character you can't love or hate completely. A world dazzlingly breathtaking. The first of an amazing trilogy. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS!

“He went to his hut in the woods and sat down to read what he had written on his new book. Its blind poverty left him aghast. To call it ridiculously naive would have been a compliment. He could hardly believe that he was #responsible for such supercilious trash.” #QuotsyMay19

“The surgery which amputated part of his hand was only a small #symbol of the stroke which cut him out of his life, excised him from his own world as if he were some kind of malignant infestation.” #QuotsyApr19

“...from now until you die, leprosy is the biggest single fact of your existence. It will control how you live in every particular. From the moment you awaken until the moment you sleep, you will have to give your undivided attention to all the hard corners and sharp edges of life...Anything that bruises, bumps, burns, breaks, scrapes, snags, pokes, or weakens you can maim, cripple, or even kill you.” #touch #QuotsyApr19

“The gaping #giant heads which topped the courthouse columns looked oddly nauseated, as if they were about to vomit on him.” #QuotsyMar19
I feel like in scenes like these, the reader sees the world through the lens of leper Thomas Covenant‘s bitterness & self-loathing.

“Go away! Get out of here! You ought to be ashamed!”

Thomas Covenant‘s stride went on, as unfaltering as clockwork that had been wound to the hilt for just this purpose. But to himself he responded, Ashamed? Ashamed? His face contorted in a wild grimace. Beware! Outcast unclean!

“His sign said, Beware, uselessly, like warning that came too late.”

#QuotsyMar19

“And he who wields white, wild magic gold is a paradox
For he is everything and nothing
Hero and fool
Potent, helpless
And with one word of truth or treachery
He will save or damn the earth
Because he is mad and sane
Cold and passionate
Lost and found”

I've posted this before, but it's what I immediately thought of since the quote is from one of my fave series & my hubby & I have white #gold wedding rings! (that's mine in the photo) #QuotsyOct18

First published in 1977.The story of Thomas Covenant, leper. He is transported to another world, The Land. There‘s Orcs, Ur-Viles, magic, a white gold ring and even a bad guy, Lord Foul. There are similarities to The Lord of the Rings, but this is set in modern day and so much easier to read. I have re-read this many times and love it. It‘s part one of the First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever

1. Hogwarts (HP), Caladan & Chapterhouse (Dune), Hoth & Endor (Star Wars), Green Gables, the Shire & Rivendell (Middle Earth), and Landover
2. The Land (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) as it was before the rule of the Clave or the Masters
3. I'd avoid Panem (Hunger Games), the Mines of Moria & Mordor (Middle Earth), Tatooine (Star Wars), Giedi Prime & Arrakis (Dune), and the Forbidden Forest & Azkaban (HP)

#SundayFunday @sebrittain

Today‘s #agameoffavorites offers a choice between Fantasy and Romance. Shockingly I chose Fantasy. My favorite epic fantasy series is The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. I‘ve read a quite a few interviews with Donaldson and while I can‘t remember a favorite his recommendation of An Alien Light turned me into a Nancy Kress fan. Luckily I own both of these gorgeous covers. I own 4 different versions of Lord Fouls Band. This is my fave.

"From the moment you awaken until the moment you sleep, you will have to give your undivided attention to all the hard corners sharp edges of life....Anything that bruises, bumps, burns, breaks, scrapes, snags, pokes, or weakens you can maim, cripple, or even kill you." #lethal #QuotsyApril18

#MarchIntoOz #day23 #DontBelieveAnymore Today‘s Song is from Iva Davies,the man with a bigger mullet than Billy Ray Cyrus. Icehouse are one of my top 3 Aussie bands,do yourself a favour & listen to their music on Spotify. The tagged book is the first in the Thomas Covenant,the Unbeliever series, about a man who having contracted leprosy has lost faith in everything & everyone until he wakes in a different reality which he refuses to believe in.

“And he who wields
white, wild #magic gold is a paradox
For he is everything and nothing
Hero and fool
Potent, helpless
And with one word of truth or treachery
He will save or damn the earth
Because he is mad and sane
Cold and passionate
Lost and found”
#QuotsyFeb18