First post of the 2013-14 year: Which text spoke to you the most?

For this first post, introduce yourself, your blog, and then write about the text you read this summer (one of the summer reading selections, please).  What struck you the most as you read this story or poem? Was it challenging?  Confusing?  Inspiring?  Horrifying?  Surprising?  Why?

Please also include your favorite passage from this text--the passage that made you stop and think, if only for a brief moment.

My favorite text from the summer is "Eveline" by James Joyce.  I love that every time I read this story, I don't know whether I should root for Eveline to leave Dublin with Frank or stay behind and honor her obligation to her family.  I particularly love the moment in the story when the narrator notes that despite Eveline's difficult life, "now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life." All too often we opt for the "devil we know" rather than the "devil we don't," because the fear of trying something new or taking a risk--even for a good reason--can overpower us.   And, like Eveline on the dock, sometimes we find ourselves paralyzed, incapable of choosing an unknown future over a known entity...