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All Sadness America Anger Books Childhood Despair Easiness Fear Fondness Freedom

Famous Te-Ping Chen Quotes

“A great wasteland of sorrow was opening up in him, unfolding dozens of tiny shacks, terrible squatters setting up residence, banging their miniature liquor bottles against his chest, a hundred feet trampling his organs.”

Grief Sadness Sorrow Despair

Book:Land of Big Numbers

Source: Land of Big Numbers

“She laughed a lot, and easily. It wasn't until we actually became friends that I realized she was often very sad. America is like that, I must say, free and easy until you know better.”

America Happiness Freedom Sadness Easiness

Book:Land of Big Numbers

Source: Land of Big Numbers

“As a child she was always reading: Even at meals she would sit and scan the back of the juice box. She must have read it a million times: aspartame and xanthan gum and red no. 9. It wasn't a conscious thing; she just seemed to feel uncomfortable when her eyes weren't fastened to a page.”

Reading Childhood Books Literacy

Book:Land of Big Numbers

Source: Land of Big Numbers

“When working at the bottling plant, she'd felt herself turning into something nearly savage, fingers stiff, mind numb, chest a cage. There'd been cats in their village who'd hiss and spit at anyone who came near them, and Xiaolei thought she could understand why. Sometimes if she wanted to leave her room, she first found herself listening from inside for any hall noises and waiting until they subsided before exiting; the sound of another door rasping open would prompt her to pause. If she spotted people her age clustered in the courtyard--a few girls had made friendly overtures--she'd turn and make a hasty retreat, as if suddenly remembering something. It wasn't surprising, she told herself: all wild animals fear human contact.”

Fear Solitude Anger Rage

Book:Land of Big Numbers

Source: Land of Big Numbers

“They were fond of each other, and that was more than you could say about most marriages.”

Relationships Marriage Fondness

Book:Land of Big Numbers

Source: Land of Big Numbers