Friday 24 February 2012

You never knew it had a name

"Sometimes it is," she said.
I nodded. Watched the rapid blinking of her eyes, shiny with unspilled tears. Watched the moisture that had pooled in the little valley above her top lip. What was that indentation called? I always forgot. But God, didn't it feel nice the way her fingertips were grazing the veins on the back of my hand?

The above passage comes from a novel that I just finished reading last night. It is the latest book written by Wally Lamb and is titled `The Hour I First Believed'. I bought the book at Popular Book Store's fair a few months back and it has taken me this long to finish reading it. At two and a half inches thick, it is one of the thickest novels I have held in my hands. And it has a great story. Pure human drama that spans a few generations from the 1800's to the modern day. But this post is not a book review... I may do that a bit later, if I do manage to digest and summarize the multiple-layered stories into a few lines.

A very good read but only for those with patience
Let's go back to the passage above, specifically to the part about the groove in the middle of our upper lip right below the nose. I am sure the author knows what it is called but he wrote it as a question, perhaps to prod his readers to actually find out for themselves.

The moment I read the sentence, I became agitated with myself... because just a few weeks before, I had read an amusing website link shared by a friend that shows a list of `25 everyday things you never knew had names', and that groove on the upper lip was one of the 25... but I could not remember. Feeling a bit peeved at my poor memory, I put down the book, fired up my laptop and went online to search for the link.

Philtrum... that's what it is called. So now you know...

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

salam Oldstock

that's the beauty of reading but i got lazy lately to read thick books like that :)

Sir Pök Déng said...

So it seems like you are really into Wally Lamb. I remember you recommended me one of his works entitled "I Know This Much Is True". Since I was introduced with that title, I don't wanna spend my money on purchasing his other books. I was searching for IKTMIS probably a month ago but I can't find any.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

ah, so that's what it is called. one learns something new every day. PS: thick books put me off too, oldstock..

Kama At-Tarawis said...

i just took a peek at the link you provided and realised that i knew only two - akimbo and peen. not so clever, eh.. :-D

Fadhil said...

Salam Noir,

Don't judge a book by its thickness, hehe...

Fadhil said...

Pok Deng,

Wally Lamb is not a prolific writer, unlike other best-selling novelists. I bought this book because I enjoyed his earlier one, which I did recommend to you. As luck would have it, Popular was selling it at a 70% discount. Do try to read I Know This Much Is True, if you can get your hands on it. A less daunting task compared to this thick volume. That book was recommended to me by an online acquaintance.

Fadhil said...

Kak Kama,

If I had not read Wally Lamb before, I would not have picked up this thick book.

And of that list of 25... I only knew 2, akimbo and mondegreen. The one that sticks to my mind the most is `Desire Path'.

Nurie said...

Even after I read "25 everyday things you never knew had names' I still cant remember them! hahaha

Enjoy reading the book! Sure berat giler buku tu ;-)

Fadhil said...

Tq Nurie for being the one to first share the link. I still can't remember all 25, but at least now I know 5 or 6 of them... haha...

I forgot the one they call `man tits'...