“I had a period when I read Nobel Prize winners. I figured they had to be good. I discovered some people I didn't know about, like the Icelandic writer Halldor Laxness, who wrote "Independent People." .” PeopleKnowsPeriodsIndependentBe GoodWinnerPrizeNobelNobel PrizeNobel Prize Winners Author:Stephen Dobyns
“Let's say someone has experienced a violent trauma or betrayal: a child has been raped by a parent or has witnessed the destruction of someone he loves or has been so traumatized by the possibility of beatings and punishments that he's afraid to act. If the trauma is great enough, that person's life may become frozen, emotionally frozen even though he still gets up in the morning, is busy all day, and goes to bed at night. But there's this empty space that begins to fill with rage, rage toward everyone - the perpetrator, the people in the world who haven't suffered, even toward himself. (174)” PeopleIfsWorldMayChildrenPersonsHas BeensStillsEnoughNightParentSpaceMorningHavensPossibilityBedEmptyDestructionBusyTraumaBetrayalRagePunishmentViolentGet UpFrozenEmpty SpacePerpetrators Book:Boy in the Water: A Novel Source: Boy in the Water: A Novel
“These people you used to see every day, friends or acquaintances, after a while they become as distant as any stranger, people you suddenly recall late at night--you remember something they said or something silly that someone once did. For a few moments they completely occupy your mind; then you forget them again.” PeopleMindSaidMomentsRememberUsedNightForgetLateStrangerSillyRecallsThey SaidAcquaintanceRemember Something Author:Stephen Dobyns