ellauri011.html on line 566: In his central figure, not-quite-Paulo, he has created (I imagine by mistake) a devastating portrait of a man whose stock in trade is spirituality but who is worldly to his very toenails, exquisitely attuned to his own status. He is constantly reminding himself how many books he has sold, how many languages they have been translated into, and that he is 'despite all the adverse reviews, a possible candidate for a major literary prize'. When he takes up with another woman (strictly to dispel the Zahir, of course), he chooses a successful French actress of 35, on the grounds that she was the only candidate to enjoy his status, 'because she too was famous and knew that celebrity counts'. Celebrity is an aphrodisiac. 'It was good for a woman's ego to be with a man and know that he had chosen her even though he had had the pick of many others.' And the man's ego, does that come into it? Not-quite-Paulo is too gallant to reveal his own age, but if he is indeed a refraction of the author then he is 20 years Marie's senior. It's adorable that he should regard himself so solemnly as the trophy in this pairing.
ellauri080.html on line 411: Highly distractible children will quickly shift their attention from one thing to another. They may not be able to focus on a conversation over dinner if they see a dog outside the kitchen window. They may be very attuned to details and have a hard time focusing in places and spaces that are busy and loud. Children with low distractibility find it easy to get really focused on a task. They get absorbed in a book even though there’s a noisy gathering of people in the same room. These children can block out many distractions and really focus their attention on what they are working on.
ellauri159.html on line 1163: You should have a natural sense of the harmony of language and ideas (if not, consider one of the other 15 types we have on store). If you are schizoid at all, you may hear in your mind how combinations of words sound together. Get attuned to the tone and implications. Use these qualities to incorporate your unique voice and perspective into your writing. Ultimately, that’s what readers respond to.
ellauri389.html on line 65: Elia, in contrast to Bridget (qua Mary) speaks for a modern sensibility that is attuned to constant stimulation and that revels in the contemporary industrial and imperial economy of surplus and novelty goods. His teacup is an object of debate because it epitomizes precisely the kind of dangerous indulgence Bridget fears: it is a luxury commodity and, with its fashion-dependent pattern and place in a "set" of companion pieces, it inevitably entails additional purchasing. Elia's dialectical opposition to Bridget thus is underscored by his capacity to "love" one pattern of porcelain, and "if possible, [love another] still more". Indeed, Elia's susceptibility to new-sprung marketing strategies is suggested by his acknowledgment that china jars were "introduced" into his imagination by the recently invented tactics of advertising.
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