Literary notes about zest (AI summary)
The term “zest” in literature often conveys a vibrant, life-affirming energy that can animate characters, settings, and even narrative style across diverse contexts. In some works, it marks the spirited enthusiasm with which characters approach life's challenges—from the tireless, engaging dialogues in a Chinese classic [1] to the lively, youthful lightheartedness portrayed in a Canadian narrative [2] and the renewed vigor in personal pursuits [3, 4, 5]. At times, authors even use zest to flavor ordinary actions, as when a simple game or a practical chore is imbued with a palpable excitement [6, 7, 8]. Conversely, the absence of zest is sometimes noted as a loss, signifying diminishing hope or passion in the face of adversity [9, 10, 11]. Overall, whether highlighting a buoyant spirit or the bittersweet void left by its loss, the word consistently resonates as a metaphor for the zestful pulse of life itself [12, 13, 14, 15].
- This string of flattery pleased lady Feng more and more, so that heedless of fatigue she went on to chat with still greater zest.
— from Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book I by Xueqin Cao - All the “old crowd” was there, full of mirth and zest and youthful lightheartedness.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery - With double zest I awaited the following midday.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - The young man grew up very fresh and alert, with zest for every moment of life.
— from The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence - In the autumn he returned, brown and vigorous, and entered upon his studies at the medical school connected with the university with decided zest.
— from A Knight of the Nineteenth Century by Edward Payson Roe - The fatted calf is dressed for me, But the husks have greater zest for me ... I think my pigs will be best for me,
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - " Fred carried the letter to the fire, and thrust the poker through it with much zest.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - Into all the points here suggested Mr. Willson would enter with great zest.
— from Toronto of Old by Henry Scadding - But Roy was a dear fellow and they would be very happy together, even if some indefinable zest was missing out of life.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery - In her poverty she had met with repulse from the society to which she had belonged, and she had no great zest for renewing an attempt upon it now.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy - Val went wearily down the long hall, feeling that all the zest had gone out of existence forever.
— from The Open Question: A Tale of Two Temperaments by Elizabeth Robins - " She declared that she could stand it, and her zest and willingness seemed to win him over.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy - he said, with a zest which covered its bitterness.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy - Every human culture gives its members a definite vision of the world, a definite zest of life.
— from Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Bronislaw Malinowski - There is an irrational creative impulse, a zest in novelty, in progression, in beating the other man, or, as they say, in breaking the record.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana
