Thank you.

Is yours Lao Tsu's Tao Te Ching?

Yes it is

I thought it was, but I wasn't sure. I've read it, but some time ago.

Mine is:

"It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me."

Anthony Burgess: Earthly Powers

"At nine o'clock in the morning, towards the end of November, the Warsaw train was approaching Petersburg at full speed."

Welcome to the books forum sunsplashed. Great to have another reader.

quote:

At nine o'clock in the morning, towards the end of November, the Warsaw train was approaching Petersburg at full speed

To both you and to Mike: Thank you for the welcome. It's nice to find a place where people truly love and know great books and like to discuss them.

You chose a line from one of my very favorites: The Idiot. Dostoyevsky is one of my favorite writers.

"In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone had come to visit the boy, Paul."

Dune by Frank Herbert.
The rest of the series drops steeply in quality I have heard...
anyway, to the quote...

"Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians."

quote:

Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians

I was just looking through this one the other day: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I'm not usually one for fantasy, but I love that book.

"A narrow grave-yard in the heart of a bustling, indifferent city, seen from the windows of a gloomy-looking inn, is at no time an object of enlivening suggestion; and the spectacle is not at its best when the mouldy tombstones and funereal umbrage have received the ineffectual refreshment of a dull, moist snow-fall."

I know this, but I just can't put my finger on it.....Dickens??

I think that this may be from my favorite Dickens book Great Expectations

I love Great Expectations, too, it's one of my very favorites, but no, this isn't Dickens, though it does sound like him. It's a book written by an American author often mistaken by some for British. This is a book about the wealthy, not the poor. Hope that helps.

I know it. I've read it. But I just can't nail it..aaargghh!!
Is it Bonfire of the Vanities?

No, it was written before Bonfire of the Vanities by an author no longer living.

Wharton's Age of Innocence?
She is often mistaken for a Brit....

No, but Wharton was a friend of the author. The author is male and is best known for several other books. The one I quoted from was made into a film by Merchant/Ivory.

You made it easier, but I honestly don't know whether it's The Europeans or The Bostonians.

Ah, so it's Henry James, a big favourite, and yet.......
maybe cos I have read so much of his stuff..???
Washington Square???

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
You made it easier, but I honestly don't know whether it's The Europeans or The Bostonians.

It's The Europeans. An even more beautiful film, I think, though to me, Lee Remick was miscast. I loved the way Merchant/Ivory changed spring to autumn to take advantage of the falling leaves.

Henry James is a favorite of mine, too. The Golden Bowl is my favorite followed by Portrait of a Lady.

So, I'm not sure of the rules at this point.
Does sunsplashed get another go cos we all missed the mark??
If so, go sunsplashed........

I'm new, so I'm not sure, either. I thought mark f would post one since he did guess The Europeans, even if not positive.

If not, I pass my turn on to you or to him.

You get to post another quote, SP.

EDIT: Oh, I didn't see that mark guessed the right book. Does that count? I guess we'll leave it up to him.