Top Ten Tuesday

You all know how much I love The Broke and the Bookish's top ten Tuesday right? I love it so much that I more or less started my blog to take part in it (there were other factors too, obviously, but that was a big one) and that's why I see it as my right to change it a little bit when I want to. Hence, this week's top ten. It's supposed to be things that make you go 'awww' in books, and that's sort of what I've listed, except that it's more those moments that make your heart entirely and completely happy, and make it feel like it might burst a little bit with the amazingness that these moments give to you. You all know what I'm talking about, right? So yeah, it's those. For brevity's sake, let's just call it:

Top Ten Moments That Make Your Heart Happy

1. Basically all of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, but especially the part where they're driving in the car and Charlie says "I feel infinite". A mega goosebumps and perfect moment, in a near perfect book.

2. This quotation from On the Road by Jack Kerouac (you all definitely know this already, but just in case...) "the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk; mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the midle you see the blue centrelight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'" Isn't that just some incredible writing there? I mean, really.

3. The end of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey because it is just magnificent and so perfect and exactly what you wanted to happen, for one of the characters anyway (I would say more, but, you know, we all hate spoilers!)

4. Many many parts of Gone With the Wind (the film rather than the book) basically any time that Rhett and Scarlett are onscreen together, it makes my heart a bit happy, watching their witty repartee and just generally soaking up their awesomeness. This love might have more to do with happy memories of watching it near Christmas with my bestest uni friend Frances, but it still has its happy-making effect on me now.

5. The end of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck- not because it's cheery in any way, but because it's just such a symbol of hope for a better future, and also such a altruistic thing to do that it makes me happy, in quite a sad way.

6. Almost everything in Angels in America by Tony Kushner, but especially Prior's speech towards the end "I want more life"- so perfect and wonderful and oh my God could I love this play any more than I do? Probably not!

7. That bit with the plastic bag in American Beauty- I know that many many people probably find this bit of American Beauty pretentious, and it is in a way, but I can't help the way it makes me feel. It's not the plastic bag so much as Ricky's description of what it means to him, as is the way with most art- it's not the physical object, but the way it makes you feel that really matters.

8. More or less everything that Atticus says in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee- I truly believe that Atticus Finch is the greatest human being ever to live, even though, technically, he never did. Nonetheless, everything he passes onto his children makes me extremely happy, because of his utter wonderfulness.

9. This quotation from  The History of Love by Nicole Krauss "Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering"- Nice, huh?

10. Audrey Hepburn singing Moonriver in Breakfast at Tiffany's as well as the end of the film too. Just such a beautiful film that always makes me happy for some inexplicable reason- possibly just for its prettiness!

So that's my top ten. I'm very excited to read about the things that make you tick, and let me know what you think about my happy heart makers below if you have the urge to do so!