Random scenes in random books that stuck with you

[BlueRaincoat1]

So not necessarily classic scenes from classic books (although happy to hear of them too!) but are there random scenes that pop into your mind frequently from otherwise 'regular' books?

I read a fiction book about the siege of Stalingrad many years ago, and there's a scene where the mother sees an onion, and imagines being able to.cook.it for her sons, and imagines all the goodness going into him. One onion. It pops into my head fairly regularly.

Also a book which had a very fluffy/'chick lit' cover but was much better than the cover suggested (as is often the case...) about an artist who was no longer with her husband but painted a picture of him that perfectly captured the way he rotated his fo

Argh pressed post...

...foot... it was just a really good page/scene in the context of the book and I really liked it. Wish I could remember the name of the book, I'd read it again!

Would love to hear others' 'random scenes'.

There's a book, which I found on one of those spinning racks in a little beach shop in Cornwall - Daymer Bay, so random - this book was a fictional book, with a romanticised, blonde "heroine" on the cover, about a female officer in the army, written by ex army officer, and I was in the army at the time. Well it was just brilliant. I can't even pick out a specific scene, the whole thing was great and absolutely on the nose with its descriptions of women's soldiering at those times - sixties/seventies, and even the sexist bullying they can face. I read it till it fell to bits and then couldn't find it again for years until the internet became a thing and I just entered the name of it into Google. It's out of print now but I managed to get a second copy, which I am being very careful with.

Birdsong, where they touch knees in the boat is seared into my memory for some unknown reason.

Nice, I've never read Birdsong but I saw the BBC adaptation and thought the chemistry between Clemence Posey and Eddie Redmayne was very good.

I hated birdsong 😂 I read American psycho and some of the scenes from that stick with me in a bad way - they haunt me. I couldn’t finish it.

i read Naughts and Crosses as a child and one of the final scenes (don’t want to spoil it) will stay with me always. You’d know if you’d read it.

The ‘half’ chapter in Julian Barnes’ history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters is just so beautiful

I couldn't finish American Psycho. I read most of it in university for am American literature course and thought it was utterly disgusting. It made me very angry at the time.

In Wolf Hall, Anne Boleyn getting bad tempered doing archery and the description of the diamond chips in her veil glinting like ice.

In The Universe Vs Alex Woods (I think it’s called) - at the end, when the lad wheels his friend out of the hospital and drives off with him to Europe, so he can die with dignity.

The scene(s) near the end of the three body problem trilogy of the universe being two dimeonsionalised and the end of the universe. In fact, a lot of that trilogy often comes back to me- incredible read. It's the best series of books I've ever read, and I've read a lot.

Also, 'Sarum' had a few scenes that always stay with me.
I do enjoy an epic, era spanning story!

Near the end of Elizabeth Bowen’s The Death of the Heart, when Portia realises that her sister-in-law/guardian and the young man she, Portia, has fallen in love with, have been reading her diary.

The scene in The Crimson Petal And The White where Sugar stands at the top of the flight of stairs and then throws herself down purposely to lose the baby she is carrying because she has no way to care for it.

It suddenly made me realise the weight of what it means to be a woman, that being the one able to carry and have a child is a far bigger responsibility than anything a man could ever even begin to imagine.

Not gonna a name the books but

One scene that pops up frequently.

I girl with a crappy life, horrible home life is making out with a boy. And it's one of the best times of her life but shes feeling sad because she knows the good times dont last.

Another book I read.

Nearly every page had great quotes. When I was younger I'd write down quotes I felt were interesting from books. And sometimes read them. This book had great lines on so many pages. And I'd read my little booklet of quotes over and over.

So at random moments I will remember a quote. Some of the quotes I remember frequently. I think some of the lines had been taken from other books too.

E.g. when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains however improbable must be the truth.

Movement alerts the hunter to the whereabouts of the hunted, where stillness would have made them all but invisible.

Some songs, some memories live longer than men and women- I've definitely got this one a bit wrong

Oh that's reminded me of some quotes I used to have stuck on my wall! Many years ago. There was a scene in Death of a Salesman (so not very random...) where Biff said (I've had to look this up)
"And it's a measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for the sake of a two-week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off. And always to have to get ahead of the next fella. And still — that's how you build a future."
I found it so profound.
(FyI I very much ended up on the tube on hot mornings, and haven't had an outdoor job since I was 16...)

The last words of Grahame Green's book The End Of The Affair, when the deceased wife's lover is talking to her husband as they walk on the common. The lover is destroyed by her death and refuses to believe in god despite seeing Sarah's 'miracles', and he prays to god to be left alone, not accepting the healing that belief in god will give him.

I'm not religious but GG apparently struggled with religion and converted to Catholicism, and the book is about religion, love and hate. Always makes me cry because its about unbearable loss.

The scene in Shuggie Bain where Agnes is walking though the hospital ward at night to visit he father. The description of her walk, her worn down shoes and her carrying cans of lager is so beautifully written. The image has stayed with me.

@RagingWoke

Yay! Someone else with love for these books!

Most of Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman.

I read it when I was 14! Still think about it regularly

I thought the first page of ^Bring up the Bodies* where Hilary Mantel describes a falconry scene was the most perfect bit of writing I've ever read.

The scene in The Children's Book where two of the characters discuss what they get from their work I thought was so true and the first time I've ever read a female character talking about how rewarding her work was.

So theres at least two of us! Have you read the unofficial 4th book 'the redemption of time'? That's another one that pops into my mind now and again about perceived threats.

Eagerly awaiting the Netflix adaptation 😬

@RagingWoke I didn’t realise there was going to be a Netflix adaptation!!!!! Ahhhhh! I’m so excited!!! I’ve wanted this for so long.

@Trisolaris I've been watching it's progress with bated breath. Release is unconfirmed but likely late 2023, filming is wrapping up this month.

I've been a big reader my whole life but these books have taken hold of me in a way few others have.

@RagingWoke Same. It’s hard to explain to people why they should read them and why they are so great though as there is just so much to them!
I have so much hope for the adaptation. I think my partner would love the story and ideas but would never cope with the books (dyslexia) and I’d love to share them with him.

A book called The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra. It's set in the time of Stalin, and one of the characters has the job of "erasing" disgraced people out of pictures so there's no trace of them. In one scene he has to erase his own brother - it's a proper 'hairs standing up on the back of your neck' moment.

@Trisolaris @RagingWoke

Make that 3!!