Ilse’s Reviews > A Wreath of Roses > Status Update
Ilse
is on page 200 of 224
Life itself is an unfinished sentence, or a few haphazard brush-strokes. Nothing stays. Nothing is completed. The meaning of a painting is a voice crying out:"I saw it. Before it vanished, it was thus." An honest painting would never be finished; an honest novel would stop in the middle of a sentence.There is no shutting life up in a cage, turning the key with a full-stop, with a stroke of paint.
— Feb 25, 2026 08:51AM
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Ilse’s Previous Updates
Ilse
is on page 150 of 224
Ugliness has the extra power of making beauty seem unreal, a service beauty seems rarely able to return.
— Feb 24, 2026 07:18AM
Ilse
is on page 124 of 224
Upon this impermanence we set up our easels and paint our pictures. What goes on to the canvas is the ticking of our hearts, the pulse of our lives. Yet when we die, what will happen? Those manifestos of ours against the indifference of the world will lie, face down, among old books and ornaments in junk-shops, in attics.
— Feb 23, 2026 08:28AM
Ilse
is on page 104 of 224
It's just that people are like doors. They all lead you into empty rooms. You pass through and are left with yourself.
— Feb 19, 2026 08:37AM
Ilse
is on page 88 of 224
Duty is very simple and obvious. It is nearly always what you don't want to do.
— Feb 17, 2026 09:26AM
Ilse
is on page 55 of 224
When Camilla opened the door, birds burst up out of bushes, flurrying the leaves, plunged into the dense creeper over the walls.The garden was still, soaked with dew, veiled with a pearly light as if sponged with milk. A little tree of morello cherries seemed painted upon the sky, its fruit luminously red like cherries on a hat.
— Feb 16, 2026 05:24AM
Ilse
is on page 45 of 224
The one she painted last summer was the best she ever did. The one of the room with the lace curtains. A very tender light flowing through them.'
'Yes, that was what I call a picture. Perhaps we always want paintings to be like novels.'
— Feb 14, 2026 04:24AM
'Yes, that was what I call a picture. Perhaps we always want paintings to be like novels.'
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Feb 25, 2026 10:57AM
is there another Taylor novel you recommend, Ilse? I loved this book but have failed to get in to several of her other works.
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I have never read Elizabeth Taylor. Where would be a good place to start?
"Life itself is an unfinished sentence, or a few haphazard brush-strokes." yes!!!! Elizabeth Taylor is an author I'd like to read mor of, she is new to me, well kind of as i didn't realize I had several stories of hers in some of my books. maybe I'll start with a short.
Carol wrote: "is there another Taylor novel you recommend, Ilse? I loved this book but have failed to get in to several of her other works."Carol, so glad you've enjoyed this one too! From the novels I read so far from Elizabeth Taylor, I had the impression they were all quite different, and I loved them all, even if I probably missed a lot being insufficiently familiar with English culture and so don't necessarily 'getting' her characters, her writing style making me wish to read all her novels though :). Which books of hers did you struggle with? Seeing you also have Angel, The Sleeping Beauty, A Game of Hide and Seek on your shelves but not Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, I'd recommend Mrs Palfrey to you - witty and a little tragicomical...
Linda wrote: "I have never read Elizabeth Taylor. Where would be a good place to start?"Linda, even if I normally wouldn't recommend the book I liked most for a start, I would nevertheless recommend to start with Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont - so good I read it twice and that it warmed me to read more by her :)
Anisha Inkspill wrote: ""Life itself is an unfinished sentence, or a few haphazard brush-strokes." yes!!!! Elizabeth Taylor is an author I'd like to read mor of, she is new to me, well kind of as i didn't realize I had several stories of hers in some of my books. maybe I'll start with a short.It is so well-put, isn't it, Anisha :)? She is the kind of author that makes me mark lots of sentences which strike me for their insight or beauty, - and so she turned into an author of my heart :). I've only read one short story of hers so far, in Stories of Books and Libraries, but it was a really outstanding story in that (excellent) collection, so it sounds a great idea to get acquainted to her style by tasting a short story first - I look forward to your thoughts when you would give her a go and really hope you'll enjoy her style, wit and insight as well.
thank you, Ilse! Mrs. Palfrey was one of my failed reads, but I will give it a renewed commitment.
Carol wrote: "thank you, Ilse! Mrs. Palfrey was one of my failed reads, but I will give it a renewed commitment."Fingers crossed you'll have better luck with it this time around, Carol - sometimes it is simply not the right time for a book...
