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Quote by Denis Johnson

Work

Train Dreams

Paul Chrisman, a solitary figure, spends his life working on trains, his dreams and aspirations mirroring the vastness of the American landscape. The novel is a meditation on the American Dream, the passage of time, and the enduring power of memory. more

Author

Denis Johnson
Denis Johnson

Denis Johnson is an American writer born on July 1, 1949. His works are known for their profound psychological insights and unique narrative style, having won numerous literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. more

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“And it's a disquieting thought that not even the past is done with, even that continues to change, as if in reality there is only one time, for everything, one time for every purpose under heaven. One single second, one single landscape, in which what happens activates and deactivates what has already happened in endless chain reactions, like the processes that take place in the brain, perhaps, where cells suddenly bloom and die away, all according to the way the winds of consciousness are blowing.”

“Chyerti—that’s us, demons and devils, small and big—are compulsive. We obsess. It’s our nature. We turn on a track, around and around; we march in step; we act out the same tales, over and over, the same sets of motions, while time piles up like yarn under a wheel. We like patterns. They’re comforting. Sometimes little things change—a car instead of a house, a girl not named Yelena. But it’s no different, not really. Not ever.”