falling

i remember very few things from having read, the house of the spirits. only that i loved it, and was particularly touched by a description of one of the characters dying.

allende wrote that she (the character whose name i have forgotten) became even more beautiful in the moments before her death than she had when she was alive. she likened the transformation to that of the leaves changing in the fall - a miraculous burst of striking color before quietly dying and falling to the ground.

since reading that book i have never experienced autumn in quite the same way.
i would say it has also influenced my understanding of death.