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Date Posted: Tue, July 19 2022, 3:23:24
Author: Kathy in PA
Subject: QOTD for Tuesday, July 19, 2022. From “A Breath of Snow and Ashes” by Diana Gabaldon




Prologue

TIME IS A LOT OF THINGS people say that God is. There’s the always preexisting, and having no end. There’s the notion of being all powerful - because nothing can stand against time, can it? Not mountains, not armies.

And time is, of course, all-healing. Give anything ENOUGH time, and everything is taken care of: all pain encompassed, all hardship erased, all loss subsumed.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Remember, man, that thou art dust; and unto dust thou shalt return.

And if Time is anything akin to God, I suppose Memory must be the Devil.






I always love the prologues. They always make me cry. I’m not sure if it’s the realization that the anticipation is over or if it’s just Diana’s words are so powerful. I read the whole story into the prologues and wonder about each word and where it came from and what it’s referring to.

Never noticed that Diana capitalized the first seven words. Why? The word “enough” is supposed to be italicized but I didn’t take time to see how to do it.
Why that word?

Skimming the opening pages in the acknowledgments Diana thanks Doug for the opening lines in the prologue. We all know the closing lines he gave her. Once again, she gently weaves her faith into her writing reminding us of “ashes to ashes.”

Capitalizing Time, God and the Devil at the end…………..why?

Hope everyone has a way to stay cool today! A nice long book and a wee dram or large dram! 😊

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Replies:

[> Kathy in PA, I, too, love the prologues, reading them at the start of each book, anticipating what clues they might hold to the story within the covers. MOBY's prologue is my favorite. -- DianaH, Wed, July 20 2022, 9:05:43


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[> [> I relate to that one more than any other, Diana. It gives me goosebumps every time I read it, -- Kathy in PA, Wed, July 20 2022, 11:39:32


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[> [> [> Me too, perhaps because I am older (59), and my daughter is 27. She IS the Now, the Spring of Life, and smart, while I have seen much more, have the experience of more time. -- DianaH, Thu, July 21 2022, 9:39:21


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[> [> [> [> Totally agree. I’m 67 and my dear daughter is 43. I love seeing her be the Spring and I love being a crone. We’re very close, she’s my in person Outlander buddy and I couldn’t have left her, even for Jamie. 😉 -- Kathy in PA, Thu, July 21 2022, 17:39:59


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