Books Metaphors Novels & Stories

"Too much?" I didn't look up from my screen. "It depends. Is the villainy supposed to smell like manure? Because if so, it's perfect." He chuckled, scribbling a note. "Point taken. How's the opus going? Captured the existential angst of sedimentary rock yet?" "I'm trying to explain how being relentlessly pounded by the ocean is a metaphor for personal growth, yes," I said, deleting yet another overly florid sentence. "Sounds painful. And damp." He set his notebook aside. "You know, all this talk of tumbling... it's given me an idea."

Lionheart smirked. “What is?” “Everything. Metaphors and shadow, hinting at deeper truths.” “Isn't the fruit a metaphor for sex? Serpent is pretty phallic.” The lion groaned. “Is your mind really so one-dimensional?” I drew my lips thin. “I was joking. Slightly. So poor Sammy has to play gardener to a tree on its last limbs? Is that what the scythe is for? Pruning?”

he said and looked at the picture on the cover. It was a picture of lovers who were sitting above the clouds. "Even if they drift away from each other... they will still meet again." Hail said. "And when they meet...." he said and saw a man with a wide black hat looking at the items on the rack. "... they will stick with each other forever..." he told her. "Huh...?" she muttered, then thought. "But, Hail... That is just a metaphor, right?" she asked. Hail frowned. "Everything in that story is a metaphor, anyway." He said. "Now, get back to work!" he told her.

she asked, the tiredness in her voice now lighter, almost curious. “You break the breadcrumb trail,” he said. “We cut the obvious routes, create new ones, make her life look like smoke to anyone who might chase it.” She laughed again. This time it was steadier. “You always use the fanciest metaphors when you’re tired.” “I use the fancy metaphors because you like them.” He sighed, the kind of long breath shared between people who know themselves too well. “And because they make the work feel less like war and more like craft.”

Professor Dawes smiles with the particular satisfaction of an academic who has just made her point without having to make it herself. "Excellent, Mr. Hayes. Notice the physicality of Donne's imagery. Battering, breaking, overthrowing. Violence becomes devotion. Destruction becomes creation. The paradox is embedded in the sound of the language itself." Students write notes about religious metaphor and metaphysical conceits. I cannot move. Eli sets his book down with careful precision. His expression settles back into the unreadable quality he wears in public spaces, the controlled neutrality that I have spent a semester learning to read around the edges of.

Being in this environment brought the book he had read last night to surreal life. To him, the novel was more than just a representation of a man struggling against nature and age. It was a kind of metaphor for life. Sometimes, thought James, we go after our dreams based on preconceived notions and ideals of success and life doesn’t always work out the way we intended. But like the old man, he figured you had to keep going no matter what. Because as is the case with real life, just as in the book, there is always someone watching and learning from your example.

“It’s emotional.” “Same thing.” I gasped lightly. “Blasphemy.” That actually made him look at me properly. “Blasphemy?” he repeated. “Yes,” I said firmly. “You can’t just disrespect books like that. He leaned back slightly in his chair, one arm resting casually. “Why must everything be emotional or poetic or whatever you people call it,” he said. “Why not just say what it is. It has to metaphor. Has to rhyme.” I frowned. “Not all poetry rhymes.” He tilted his head slightly. “Then what’s the point.”

Eyes that were not quite eyes followed every motion of her breath. > “All right,” Mira said, trying to sound like a patient teacher instead of someone mentoring a reality-bending toddler. “Lesson one: emotional regulation.” > I don’t understand the term. > “Obviously. Okay—humans feel things, but we don’t let those things turn the weather purple.” > Purple is pretty. > “It’s catastrophic.” > So is love. Mira sighed. “Oh, wonderful, you’ve discovered poetry again.” From behind her, Adrian cleared his throat. “Maybe try… smaller metaphors?”

Tall people were the worst. “‘My nipples beaded and my core moistened,’” he continued. He wrinkled his nose. “Core? Why does this sound like she’s describing the earth’s core? Is this poor woman full of lava?” “It’s a metaphor.” I finally was able to snatch the book from his sneaky, princely fingers. “And yes, it’s ridiculously flowery. That’s why I like it.” “I’m surprised.” “That I read?” “No. That you read books like these.”

The message read: IN ORDER TO GAIN SOMETHING, YOU HAVE TO LEAVE A PIECE OF YOURSELF. Anthony frowned and looked at Marion onstage. He shook his head, hoping Marion would get that he meant he didn’t get the message. On what he is expected to do. The thing that is required of him must be embedded on that one sentence. For some reason, he cannot get the intent of the metaphor. Marion glanced at the clock. 4 minutes left and the challenge closes. Last four minutes of his one and only chance. Anthony sensed Marion won’t help him so he got back his attention to the message on the paper. He’s not a linguist, not a fan of literature as well. Whatever the purpose of the metaphor, he wouldn’t get it u