compagnadibanco

“Ogni momento accade due volte: all’interno e all’esterno, e sono due storie diverse.”

Almond Tree in Blossom (Interpretation in Red), Artist Vincent van Gogh Year 1890

Plant-filled home in Denver | photos by Mado Photo

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Noctiluz - poemas às segundas

Challenge Your Shelf 2017: 7/365

January 7th - Comfort Book

Matilda was always my comfort book. So was anything else by Roald Dahl, to be honest. I only read Dahl books growing up, first in their Norwegian translation. When I wanted to read English books that weren’t picture books, his stories was the obvious choice, Dahl himself being an Englishman with Norwegian parents. My favorite of his stories is George’s Marvellous Medicine, but Matilda? Matilda is my homegirl.

See, I never identified with George, I just thought the crazy inventor story and mega-chickens made the book a really good ride. In Matilda, however, I saw a girl who also sought comfort in her imagination and saw the world on her own terms. And she has a defiance to her character that I envy even as a 23-year-old.

So when I wanted a tattoo to commemorate finishing my BA degree, I chose Matilda for her love of reading and her will to continue to influence those around her, even when they wouldn’t listen. At first, I planned on just getting a stack of books illustrated by Quentin Blake, but my artist convinced me to not shy away from the literalness of the art I wanted on my body. We chose this half-visible Matilda from a sketch collage of Blake illustrations, and I’m so happy we did.