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Books Quotes

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Books Quotes

“But in her head, she believed what Einstein had suggested. The enigma of The Universe itself was answered in mathematics. Mushing was all about timing. It was about the rhythm of dog and man - synchronicity of movement, elegance. And sometimes, the movement of her bow across the strings of her violin reminded her of the swish and glide of the runners on a sled ride in the snow.”

“Suppose you and Pa were gone, and we were lost. Suppose we were inside of Lord of the Flies What would happen then? I wonder what my sister, who understand books better than life, would say if she were confronted with a question like this one. She's so good at explaining books and their meanings, beyond the obvious. Maybe she'd say that all those books and stories devoted to adult-less children – books like Peter Pan, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, that short story by García Márquez, "Light is Like Water," and of course Lord of the Flies – are nothing but desperate attempts by adults to come to terms with childhood. That although they may seem to be stories about children's worlds – worlds without adults – they are in fact stories about children's worlds – worlds without adults – they are in fact stores about an adult's world when there are children in it, about the way that children's imaginations destabilize our adult sense of reality and force us to question the very grounds of that reality. The more time one spends surrounded by children, disconnected by other adults, the more their imaginations leak through the cracks of our own fragile structures.”

“What these books and their like have done for me is tap into some roaming tendency of the mind; I know that I could never have done what these writers have done, been where they have been, pursued the interests they have pursued, but I want to know what it is like. We go to fiction to extend experience, to get beyond our own, For me, this kind of non-fiction writer is furnishing the same need--taking me out of my own comfortable expectations and showing me how it might be elsewhere. Armchair travel? Not quite. I have never believed that travel broadens the mind, having known some well-travelled minds that were nicely atrophied. Rather, these are books--experiences--that encourage a leap of the imagination.”

“Books are like windows, not only to look at but to look through. Some, like some windows, open to nothing but a dead wall, in which case they are prettily draped and decorated; and if you must say something about them, you will have to talk about the decorations. Some look on a historical period... Now, anyone who has lived in hill-country knows that some windows have both a near and far view. A short-sighted person or one whose interests are all in the dooryard can get a good view of all that, but, to the longsighted, vistas open to the far hills.”

“I gave her as much as I had, but it's like the difference between a movie and a book: A book lets you choose how much of the blood you want to see. A book gives you the permission to see the story as you want, as your mind directs. You interpret. Your Alexander Portnoy doesn't look like mine because we all have our unique view. When you finish a movie you leave the theater with your friend and talk about the movie right away. When you finish a book you think. Love grew up on movies and I have just read her a book. I give her time to digest.”

“Create a world in front of your readers where they can taste, smell, touch, hear, see, and move. Or else they are likely going to move on to another book.”

“Dreams are good at playing with your memory. They love leaving no trace behind and hate to show up once again in the morning.”