Favorite Passages

[KxBurns]

Please share your favorite passages. What moments touched you the most? What passages did you find especially well-written? What scenes from the book stayed with you?

I've mentioned the passage depicting J.P.'s trip home from school on another thread. But my absolute favorite moment of the book was when Lindsay had to be the Cup at work.

The unexpected joyfulness expressed in this scene, and by this character, lingered in my mind long after I read it. It runs from the last paragraph of page 234 to the end of the chapter on 237. Give it another read and see if you don't smile.

-Karen

[EbonyAngel]

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KxBurns wrote:

Please share your favorite passages. What moments touched you the most? What passages did you find especially well-written? What scenes from the book stayed with you?

I've mentioned the passage depicting J.P.'s trip home from school on another thread. But my absolute favorite moment of the book was when Lindsay had to be the Cup at work.

The unexpected joyfulness expressed in this scene, and by this character, lingered in my mind long after I read it. It runs from the last paragraph of page 234 to the end of the chapter on 237. Give it another read and see if you don't smile.

-Karen

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One of my favorites is at the end.  When Lindsey remarks, "What was strange was turning her watch ahead when she felt like she was going backwards."

I think this can apply to anyone who has ever left home for an extended period.  Especially if you're young, still making yourself.  Going back home can make you feel as if you have to be the same person that left and people expect you to be.

[dhaupt]

There are many scenes in the book that stayed with me the most memorable to me were:
Fran bying Kim a Christmas present and when she opened the package from the FBI with Kim's butterfly pendant in it.
All of Ed's trips to search for Kim and his introspections and fears that he shared with only us.
Ed and Fran's fishing trip.
J.P.'s feelings of inadequacy regarding being Kim's boyfriend, his ongoing relationship with the family after Kim's disappearance and his feeling of guilt for thinking of Nina rather than Kim, not being able to picture Kim in his mind.
Lindsay being the cup and her newfound independence and joy, when she decides she wants to go to Chicago for school and her final trip of the book to Kim's funeral.

[DSaff]

I found quite a few memorable passages in this book, and Lindsay as the Cup was one that had me smiling. Here are three that I especially loved.

pg. 159 -- This passage deals with Ed's mother offering money to hire a private detective. I found this line especially poignant.

            "Please do," she said. "I may not be of much use anymore, but I can at least do this for her."

Care and concern are ageless, but the way we can help changes.

pg. 252 - 253 -- I loved the whole scene with Ed and Fran on the boat, especially the ending lines. I saw love and stubborness in the rain.

         "Ready to head in?" he asked, as if this was all she'd wanted.

         "Forget that," she said. "I'm gonna catch something."

pg. 267-268 -- This passage spoke to me about the love and loss that Fran felt.

   "The stone was permanent, and so close. Though there was nothing buried under it, Fran stopped by after work, bringing leftover flowers from the gift shop and taking away the old ones. Kim's friends left unopened packs of Newports and full bottles of beer, which Fran dropped in the garbage bag with the flowers. Once, on her way to lunch, she saw a pickup with a Marine Corps decal parked by her plot, and a goateed dude she suspected was Dennis Wozniak paying his respects. She pulled into the lot of the Dairy Queen and sat there like she was eating, waiting for him to leave. On top of the stone he'd placed a Big KitKat, Kim's favorite. Ed went with her on weekends, but confessed that sometimes he came by himself as well. He'd seen Wozniak too, and the KitKat. While Fran didn't care for Wozniak, she was glad Kim had her regulars."

Message Edited by DSaff on 06-16-2008 01:25 PM

[bookhunter]

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KxBurns wrote:

Please share your favorite passages. What moments touched you the most? What passages did you find especially well-written? What scenes from the book stayed with you?

I've mentioned the passage depicting J.P.'s trip home from school on another thread. But my absolute favorite moment of the book was when Lindsay had to be the Cup at work.

The unexpected joyfulness expressed in this scene, and by this character, lingered in my mind long after I read it. It runs from the last paragraph of page 234 to the end of the chapter on 237. Give it another read and see if you don't smile.

-Karen

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Oh yes, Karen, I love the Cup scene!  Funny and sad at the same time.  I think Lindsey felt locked into the role of the mourning sister and when she was the Cup she could actually cut loose and be herself.

Another favorite passage of mine was when Ed goes back to work and lists the house of Mrs. DeMarco.  The chapter begins on 184.  While it is a bit of just a passing-the-time passage and showing Ed trying to get back to work, I was touched by several things.  In the small town, it was of course the house of someone they sort-of know.  His tour through the house shows it to be sort of stagnant and stuck in time like his family is in danger of becoming. 

But the daughter really got me.  I have said before that Kim represents all these possible futures that have now been cut off.  The DeMarco daughter had been in the same place at one time--she was a piano prodigy, and I'm sure everyone who knew her at age 18 expected her to "achieve great things."  But skip ahead in her life, and she has not become what her mom EXPECTED and seems to feel like she is a disappointment to her mother.  We don't know where Kim's future would have led her.

Ann, bookhunter

[cocospals]

I loved the scene where Lindsay was the Cup.  She may not have initially wanted to play the part, but I think she had a blast doing it!

[Peppermill]

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DSaff wrote:

-- This passage spoke to me about the love and loss that Fran felt.

"The stone was permanent, and so close. Though there was nothing buried under it, Fran stopped by after work, bringing leftover flowers from the gift shop and taking away the old ones. Kim's friends left unopened packs of Newports and full bottles of beer, which Fran dropped in the garbage bag with the flowers. Once, on her way to lunch, she saw a pickup with a Marine Corps decal parked by her plot, and a goateed dude she suspected was Dennis Wozniak paying his respects. She pulled into the lot of the Dairy Queen and sat there like she was eating, waiting for him to leave. On top of the stone he'd placed a Big KitKat, Kim's favorite. Ed went with her on weekends, but confessed that sometimes he came by himself as well. He'd seen Wozniak too, and the KitKat. While Fran didn't care for Wozniak, she was glad Kim had her regulars."

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One of the questions this passage raised for me -- did Fran in some sense "forgive" Wozniak because of his visits to Kim's grave (memorial) site, even though she never much liked him? Did knowing about Kim's other friends visiting impact her feelings about them?

[Everyman]

Favorite passage? Strangely, perhaps, it's Fran's reaction in the chapter "the Killer Next Door" to the news of Wade's sort-of confession.

I love where she says to Ed (pg. 259) "**bleep**...I was having a really good day." And on page 260 "They can call me a crappy mother. I'm going to work tomorrow." And when Ed says "You're a good mother," she replies "It's okay...I know what I am. I'm tired of this **bleep**."

I don't know why, but this is the moment when Fran became a person, not a character, to me.

[nmccarthy]

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KxBurns wrote:

Please share your favorite passages. What moments touched you the most? What passages did you find especially well-written? What scenes from the book stayed with you?

My favorite passage was the scene where Nina and Elise hiked to theirs and Kim's old childhood, watering hole, crossed the trestle with no railing and open gaps between the planks and jumped 30 feet into the water below. My heart was pounding during this whole scene and I shared the relief and exhileration Nina and Elise felt after they conquered their fears.

I loved the symbolism of this journey for Kim's close friends - they needed to feel alive again, they need to regain their confidence, they needed their friendship to survive this tragedy.

I guess I can relate - the first time climbing the stairs of a 30 meter high dive and walking to the end of the board with no railings in Columbus, Ohio. The fear, the hesitation, the encouragement from friends, the jump, the confidence and desire to do it again.

Nancy

[CountessCat]

As the book progressed, I was touched by Fran and Ed's tenderness toward one another.  I found it optimistic yet realistic.  A large part of this was due to weathering the test they had to endure with Kim's disappearance.  Instead of taking their grief out on each other, they had strength enough to be patient with each other and be there for each other and for Lindsay.

[bookhunter]

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Everyman wrote:
Favorite passage? Strangely, perhaps, it's Fran's reaction in the chapter "the Killer Next Door" to the news of Wade's sort-of confession.

I love where she says to Ed (pg. 259) "**bleep**...I was having a really good day." And on page 260 "They can call me a crappy mother. I'm going to work tomorrow." And when Ed says "You're a good mother," she replies "It's okay...I know what I am. I'm tired of this **bleep**."

I don't know why, but this is the moment when Fran became a person, not a character, to me.

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I loved this passage, too!  Poor Fran has to live this event in a fishbowl and have her every action judged by the people in her own fictional community and even in our own "real" community!  I thought this was a very true reaction, and while there are not many "bleep" words in my working vocabulay I probably would have reacted with some myself.

Ann, bookhunter

[DSaff]

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Peppermill wrote:

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DSaff wrote:

-- This passage spoke to me about the love and loss that Fran felt.

"The stone was permanent, and so close. Though there was nothing buried under it, Fran stopped by after work, bringing leftover flowers from the gift shop and taking away the old ones. Kim's friends left unopened packs of Newports and full bottles of beer, which Fran dropped in the garbage bag with the flowers. Once, on her way to lunch, she saw a pickup with a Marine Corps decal parked by her plot, and a goateed dude she suspected was Dennis Wozniak paying his respects. She pulled into the lot of the Dairy Queen and sat there like she was eating, waiting for him to leave. On top of the stone he'd placed a Big KitKat, Kim's favorite. Ed went with her on weekends, but confessed that sometimes he came by himself as well. He'd seen Wozniak too, and the KitKat. While Fran didn't care for Wozniak, she was glad Kim had her regulars."

---

One of the questions this passage raised for me -- did Fran in some sense "forgive" Wozniak because of his visits to Kim's grave (memorial) site, even though she never much liked him? Did knowing about Kim's other friends visiting impact her feelings about them?

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I don't know if she ever forgave him, Peppermill, but I think she saw him as part of Kim's life and let him be while visiting the grave. Tolerated seems like a good word to use. I also think she found comfort that people kept going by, that they weren't forgetting Kim.

[MissKay1]

I think my favorite passage was the softball game that Lindsay goes to play. There are many references to her Dad and how the ritual, while painful, was still missing.  I found this book difficult to read as it hit home personally for me.