My exams are over. They've actually been over for 6 days now. I just can't catch a break and am still incredibly busy.
I survived the two weeks relatively unscathed. I got A's for both parts of my Italian exam as well as my Calculus exam, A-'s for my French Literature and Culture exam as well as my Chemistry exam. The only exam grades I am less-than-ecstatic about are my Lab Practical and Midterm for my Lab in Physiological Psychology. Bombed. It happens. The timing of the exam among all my others was the worst, plus it was also, by far, the hardest of the exams I took. Oh well. I now know what to expect in the future. Not too much harm done.
I wanted to write sooner, but I couldn't think of what to really write about. I'm sure no one in interested in how I did on my exams.
What I did do, which I think you may be interested in, as a bit of a reward was fit in a bit of leisure reading. I decided to read Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I've been wanting to read it for a very long time, so it's about time I do so.
This book is, as expected, incredible. It is romantic, funny, sad, beautiful. The writing in it is fantastic switching seamlessly from witty to descriptive. (Also know, I can only handle so much description. That happens to be the reason why I no longer read Dickens. A door knocker should not take two pages to describe.) Stephanie describes everything in the book perfectly. I want, more than almost anything, to go back to Paris and see it the way she describes it.
But this is not meant to be a book review. This is about my thoughts upon finishing the book.
Usually, when I read a book with a happy ending, I tend to be a tad more cynical than your average reader. I can't help but think, how long do the characters stay happy? How long do they stay together before another fight breaks out, or before something tragic happens? What are the chances that the largest portion of the drama in these character's lives happens to be within the time frame of page one and page x? It's not very likely.
But for the first time in a while, I close the book and set it down with a different frame of mind. It has nothing to do with the characters themselves. They are no more in love with each other than other characters in other books. They haven't gone through a more trying obstacle that declares that they must be together forever since they survived. They don't deserve it more than anyone else.
I leave this book with a different frame of mind because of a change in myself.
I've heard people say that this book has renewed their faith in love. This book didn't renew my faith in love. It just reflected my newly renewed faith in love.
I now believe, and this was so before picking up this book, that love can survive anything. That the drama in a character's story can end eventually. That at some point, people can live happily ever after.
That's a nice thought isn't it? That someday we all have the potential to fall in love and wake up happy every single morning. That someday we will smile at the thought of loving somebody, and at the thought of being loved. That's something worth believing in.
I have been very unable to sleep tonight.
I'm not sure if it's the DSPS, or the bit of tea I had at around 23:00, or possibly the billions of thoughts swimming in my head, or maybe it was the fate of me needing to finish this book that kept my eyes opened. Maybe it's the lack of someone next to me. It's hard to fall asleep in an empty bed when you feel so small and alone in it by yourself.
Either way, I am awake and I am happy. This book has made me smile more than a book has in a while, and in a very different way at that. Maybe it is the sheer fact that I am a romantic and a complete sucker for anything of the romantic genre. Maybe because I see the characters as people rather than just a figment of the imagination. Maybe because I believe, for once, that a couple in a book wont break up the minute I read the final page. I can't describe it. But I like it.
Sorry if this post has made very little sense. Please be aware that I am writing it having not slept in about 23 hours.
Currently playing on my iPod: Pocket Vinyl
I recently discovered this band at a Wrock show. They are not Wrock. But they are incredible. There's nothing sexier than a pianist. Add to it, piano rock, full instrumentation background, incredible lyrics, fantastic harmonies, and improvised artwork. Please look them up. Words I use to describe their music and their ability as performers will not do them justice. They are truly one of a kind, and worth recognition.
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