It was her grandfather who'd told her the tale of this particular violin, over and over, as if the telling could stave off loss, as if the weight and scope of human history were not found in books or in those mythic universities in Rome and Naples that no one in their village had ever seen but, rather, were encoded in objects like this one, a violin touched by hundreds of hands, loved, used, stroked, pressed, made to outlive its owners, storing their secrets and lies .Carolina De Robertis
About This Quote
In the beginning of the book, In the Forest by Emily Carroll, a seven year old girl named Ginny is listening to her grandfather tell her a story. When talking about a violin that he had, he mentioned that it was the most important thing in his life. The violin had been passed down from his grandfather to him then back to his grandfather. It had been played by many well known musicians and then it was played by Ginny's grandmother, who died ten years later.
It has been passed down through generations and each time it changed hands, it became more valuable. When Ginny's father bought it for her at an auction, she could feel the history of the violin and what it meant to other people. The fact that this violin was so special should have made Ginny happy but she felt sadness that her father would sell such a valuable instrument just for money.
It is clear that this instrument means a great deal to other people and yet her father still wanted money for it. For Ginny, the violin held memories and stories and part of her heart was left behind with each person who had touched it or played it.
Source: The Gods Of Tango
Some Similar Quotes
- Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
- Music is. .. A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy
- Philosophy is the highest music.
- Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.
- The truth is, going against the internal stream of ignorance is way more rebellious than trying to start some sort of cultural revolution.
More Quotes By Carolina De Robertis
- Colonial power, patriarchal power, capitalist power must always and everywhere be battled, because they never, ever quit. (Junot Diaz)
- Books were already a familiar refuge, after all, and they still took me in without the slightest judgment. They don’t close to you the way a person can. You might feel as though you don’t belong anywhere, least of all in your own home, you...
- The human story is one of continual branching movement, out of Africa to every corner of the globe. When people talk of blood and soil, as if their ancestors sprung fully formed from the earth of a particular place, it involves a kind of forgetting.(...
- She didn't mind the sacrifice. It seemed enough for a life, to give yourself to music the way nuns give themselves to God. To vow. To surrender. Only music, after all, made life bearable. Only with music did she feel--what was it? Free? Happy? No,...
- It was her grandfather who'd told her the tale of this particular violin, over and over, as if the telling could stave off loss, as if the weight and scope of human history were not found in books or in those mythic universities in Rome...