Favorite Quotes

[Stephanie]

Quote your favorite lines/passages from the book here.

Please be aware, this section is appropriate for those who have finished the book.

[Librarian]

The repartee between Albert Crosetti and Carolyn Rolly as they start to become acquainted is fun.From page 27-28-----"He sat on a stool and studied her profile. 'So ...this is kind of interesting,' he said. 'Watching books dry. I don't think I ever did it before. Maybe you could point out the highlights, so I don't miss anything.' "
Librarian

[Wildflower]

I have a few:

“...whatsoever thy hande findeth to do, do it with thy might: for there is no worke nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdome in the grave whither thou goest.”

"I have actually a great deal of sympathy for the increasingly common sort of person, often one with a high position, who is caught fabricating...It’s not the collapse of morality (for I think there has never been truth based on memory) but rather the triumph of intellectual property, that blizzard of invented realities - artificial lives, Photoshopped photos, ghosted novels, lip-synced rock bands...Everyone, from the President on down is a novelist now.”

“He said there are three kinds of history. The first is what really happened, and that is forever lost. The second is what most people thought happened, and we can recover that with assiduous effort. The third is what the people in power wanted the future to think happened, and that is 90 percent of the history in books.”

"No one will ever build a house like this again, ever, even though we have people in this country who could buy any of the Lords Dunbarton with the change in their pockets, and that means that something wonderful has gone out of this world, and I’d love to know why.”

[Stephanie]

These are excellent quotes. I find it hard to pull a quote from this book though- I want to quote too much!

[Bastet]

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Librarian wrote:
The repartee between Albert Crosetti and Carolyn Rolly as they start to become acquainted is fun.From page 27-28-----"He sat on a stool and studied her profile. 'So ...this is kind of interesting,' he said. 'Watching books dry. I don't think I ever did it before. Maybe you could point out the highlights, so I don't miss anything.' "
Librarian

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Hi Librarian~

I agree! I found the interactions between Crosetti and Rolly to be the most entertaining and some of the comments made me laugh out loud. I loved the scene towards the end of the book when Rolly tells Crosetti that all she wants to do is (SPOILER ALERT!!) get her two children and go to the bookbinding course in Germany, to which Crosetti replies, "what am I going to do? Come visit in the summer?" I just loved his one-liners with her. They added so much character to the novel.

Thanks!
Rachel

[Fozzie]

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Wildflower wrote:
"He said there are three kinds of history. The first is what really happened, and that is forever lost. The second is what most people thought happened, and we can recover that with assiduous effort. The third is what the people in power wanted the future to think happened, and that is 90 percent of the history in books.”



This is one of my favorites too. I have heard something similar once before too, but I can't remember where. This quote reminds me of the idea that Al kept putting forth, that life is like a movie because people copy what they see in movies. Both of these ideas cause us to question what is really real and original in history and life.

[Stephanie]

Chapter 11- another great one.

Someone once said, Paul Goodman, I think, that stupidity was a character defense and had little to do with intelligence, on reason the so-called best and brightest got us into Vietnam and why people who are smart enough to accumulate huge piles of wealth persist in doing things that get them major jail time. p. 221

[Wildflower]

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Stephanie wrote:
Chapter 11- another great one.

Someone once said, Paul Goodman, I think, that stupidity was a character defense and had little to do with intelligence, on reason the so-called best and brightest got us into Vietnam and why people who are smart enough to accumulate huge piles of wealth persist in doing things that get them major jail time. p. 221

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Hi Stephanie,

That's a great one. Thanks for sharing it.

Sue

Message Edited by Wildflower on 05-21-200708:09 PM

[Fozzie]

One of my favorites is on page 365:

"He was up, in the unfamiliar room of the Linton Lodge Hotel..."

An odd quote to notice, I know. When I live in Oxford during 1999-2001, I lived within walking distance of the Linton Lodge. If my husband had people in on business, he had them stay there so he could easily pick them up in the morning to go to the office. My husband's uncle also stayed there when I was too close to my due date with my second child to have him stay with us. I vividly recall walking that street on the way to attend a playgroup with my son. The street was very picturesque.

After reminiscing about the Linton Lodge, I then laughed when I read this quote on page 388:

"We met in Pascoe's room, a comfortable nest that could have been in one of those cozy-shabby hotels the English seem to like."

If you have ever spent any length of time in England, you will know how true this statement is, not only about hotels, but other places as well.

[Fozzie]

This quote of page 385 refers directly to the title of the book:

"Tis a penny-tuppence business withal, emplaced curiouslie betwixt the bawds and the bears, of no consequence a thynge of ayre and shadowes."

[Stephanie]

Laura,

Perfect! I loved this title, didn't you?

[Fozzie]

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Stephanie wrote:
Laura,

Perfect! I loved this title, didn't you?

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Yes, it was a very cool title. That's not a way in which I would usually describe a book title either.

[Stephanie]

Laura,

So often I have to recheck the title of whatever I'm reading- for some reason, titles don't usually stay in my head, unless they make me think a bit.