mark Jabbour's Blog - Posts Tagged "sunsets"
Sunsets & Vistas
I'm reading "Gone With the Wind" & was struck by Mitchell's wonderful writing of the setting, setting the tone for the story, a word lyric, if you will. And that reminded me of other authors' writing (and yes, myself included) so I put together this page. Enjoy!
SUNSETS/vistas
Gone with the wind (1936) Margaret Mitchell
Here in north Georgia was a rugged section held by a hardy people. High upon the plateau at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, she saw rolling hills wherever she looked, with huge outcroppings of the underlying granite and gaunt pines towering somberly everywhere. It all seemed wild and untamed to her coast-bred eyes accustomed to the quiet jungle beauty of the sea islands draped in their gray moss and tangled green, the white stretches of beach hot beneath a semitropic sun, the long flat vistas of sandy land studded with palmetto and palm. (72)
Centennial (1974) James Michener
It was at sunset that the mountains came into their own, for on some days clouds would rest over them like a bright blanket and reflect the dying sun. Then the mountains would be bathed in splendor: gold and red and soft radiant browns and deep blues would color the underside of the clouds and frame the mountains in a celestial light, so that even the most stolid Indiana immigrant would have to halt his oxen and look in amazement at a setting so grand that it seemed to have been ordained solely for the stupefaction of mankind. (104)
Infinite Jest (1996) David Foster Wallace
And as well the sunset over the foothills and mountains behind him: such a difference from the watery and somehow sad spring sunsets of southwestern Québec’s Papineau regions, where his wife had need of care. This (the sunset) more resembled an explosion. It took place above and behind him, and he turned some of the time to regard it: it (the sunset) was swollen and perfectly round, and large, radiating knives of light when he squinted. It hung and trembled slightly like a viscous drop about to fall. It hung just above the peaks of the Tortolia foothills behind him (Marathe), and slowly was sinking. (88)
Attachment (2006) Mark Jabbour
The next day, the ocean was nearly flat. Catching the sun’s rays were small, rolling one-way mirrors masquerading as breakers. Dark clouds collected on the horizon. North, fog draped the Cascade Head. (203)
I looked out to the edge of the earth, and beneath the black clouds a partial rainbow appeared. Purple, blue, green, and yellow arched, one end stuck into the flat, gray sea, the other disappearing in the dark, threatening sky. It was incredibly beautiful, but short-lived. The rainbow disappeared—the ominous clouds swallowed it. Is that you, God? (225)
SUNSETS/vistas
Gone with the wind (1936) Margaret Mitchell
Here in north Georgia was a rugged section held by a hardy people. High upon the plateau at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, she saw rolling hills wherever she looked, with huge outcroppings of the underlying granite and gaunt pines towering somberly everywhere. It all seemed wild and untamed to her coast-bred eyes accustomed to the quiet jungle beauty of the sea islands draped in their gray moss and tangled green, the white stretches of beach hot beneath a semitropic sun, the long flat vistas of sandy land studded with palmetto and palm. (72)
Centennial (1974) James Michener
It was at sunset that the mountains came into their own, for on some days clouds would rest over them like a bright blanket and reflect the dying sun. Then the mountains would be bathed in splendor: gold and red and soft radiant browns and deep blues would color the underside of the clouds and frame the mountains in a celestial light, so that even the most stolid Indiana immigrant would have to halt his oxen and look in amazement at a setting so grand that it seemed to have been ordained solely for the stupefaction of mankind. (104)
Infinite Jest (1996) David Foster Wallace
And as well the sunset over the foothills and mountains behind him: such a difference from the watery and somehow sad spring sunsets of southwestern Québec’s Papineau regions, where his wife had need of care. This (the sunset) more resembled an explosion. It took place above and behind him, and he turned some of the time to regard it: it (the sunset) was swollen and perfectly round, and large, radiating knives of light when he squinted. It hung and trembled slightly like a viscous drop about to fall. It hung just above the peaks of the Tortolia foothills behind him (Marathe), and slowly was sinking. (88)
Attachment (2006) Mark Jabbour
The next day, the ocean was nearly flat. Catching the sun’s rays were small, rolling one-way mirrors masquerading as breakers. Dark clouds collected on the horizon. North, fog draped the Cascade Head. (203)
I looked out to the edge of the earth, and beneath the black clouds a partial rainbow appeared. Purple, blue, green, and yellow arched, one end stuck into the flat, gray sea, the other disappearing in the dark, threatening sky. It was incredibly beautiful, but short-lived. The rainbow disappeared—the ominous clouds swallowed it. Is that you, God? (225)
