Circe

I finished Circe and I sat there wishing there was more to read. Confession: I’ve never read The Odyssey, it’s sitting on my bedside table right now, the new translation by Emily Wilson. But even without that background, this book is amazing.

I also didn’t know much about Circe, but that didn’t matter either. Apparently she was a goddess known for her use of potions and herbs and in the book she’s banished by Zeus to live alone on an island. Her courage, her spunk, and her way of always figuring out what was important in any given situation was amazing. But more than anything else I loved the way she cared for herself and in time, for those she loved. She didn’t hesitate to throw all of herself into things once she decided to do it.

I know I’ve already said this once about a book I’ve finished this year, but this one is also in the running for my best read of 2019. I’m still thinking on this book and will be for quite some time, but here are a few highlights that I loved towards the end.

I know how lucky I am, stupid with luck, crammed with it, stumbling drunk.

I listen to his breath, warm upon the night air, and somehow I am comforted. He does not mean that it does not hurt. He does not mean that we are not frightened. Only that: we are here. This is what it means to swim in the tide, to walk the earth and feel it touch your feet. This is what it means to be alive.