Literary notes about Getting (AI summary)
The word "getting" in literature often encapsulates the notion of change, progress, or transition. Authors use it to express physical movement or shift in state—as when characters are gradually "getting to" a destination ([1], [2]) or "getting up" to undertake a task ([3], [4], [5])—but it also conveys more abstract transformations, such as preparing for an event ([6], [7]), evolving emotions or conditions ([8], [9]), or even the onset of challenges ([10], [11]). Additionally, dialogue frequently employs "getting" to reflect ongoing processes in everyday life, as seen in inquiries about one's progress ([12], [13], [14]), while narrative descriptions use it to develop a vivid sense of immediacy in both physical journeys and character development ([15], [16], [17]). This versatility makes "getting" a useful tool for authors to illustrate the dynamic and often incremental nature of human experience.
- It is harder work getting to hell than to heaven.
— from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs - It seemed to me that the strait was getting narrower and narrower.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - [Getting up.]
— from A Doll's House : a play by Henrik Ibsen - Now, after a while, Little-Faith came to himself, and, getting up, made shift to scramble on his way.
— from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan Every Child Can Read by John Bunyan - "That will do," said Trudolyubov, getting up.
— from Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Παρασκευή, ῆς, ἡ, a getting ready, preparation; in N.T., preparation for a feast, day of preparation, Mat. 27.62.
— from A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament by William Greenfield - “Certainly,” said I; “and I will turn away while you are getting ready.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - I saw his nice eyes getting so miserable.
— from Howards End by E. M. Forster - Alyosha learnt with alarm that he was getting worse and worse.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Ay, there indeed lay the difficulty, for there is no getting loose without a pass and discharge in due course from the bench.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais - A Constitution can be built, Constitutions enough a la Sieyes: but the frightful difficulty is that of getting men to come and live in them!
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle - “And how is Nikanor getting on?”
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - "How are you getting on?" said the Cat, as soon as there was mouth enough for it to speak with.
— from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - “Well, how are you getting on?
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy - "Mrs. Michelson is more likely to be getting up just now than going to bed.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - The woman whispered; she was imploring and anxious: “Come, come, it is getting dark, and this nonsense won't do.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - I ought, too, to write to Richard and ask him how he is getting on, perhaps?"
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
