“Shall I tell you the secret of the whole world? It is that we have only known the back of the world. We see everything from behind, and it looks brutal. That is not a tree, but the back of a tree. That is not a cloud, but the back of a cloud. Cannot you see that everything is stooping and hiding a face? If we could only get round in front--”
― The Man Who Was Thursday
― The Man Who Was Thursday
“Truth is singular. Its 'versions' are mistruths.”
― Cloud Atlas
― Cloud Atlas
“Why does each thing on the earth war against each other thing? Why does each small thing in the world have to fight against the world itself? Why does a fly have to fight the whole universe? Why does a dandelion have to fight the whole universe? For the same reason that I had to be alone in the dreadful Council of the Days. So that each thing that obeys law may have the glory and isolation of the anarchist. So that each man fighting for order may be as brave and good a man as the dynamiter. So that the real lie of Satan may be flung back in the face of this blasphemer, so that by tears and torture we may earn the right to say to this man, 'You lie!' No agonies can be too great to buy the right to say to this accuser, 'We also have suffered.”
― The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
― The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
“By each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”
― Cloud Atlas
― Cloud Atlas
“She was widely read enough to appreciate my literary wit but not so widely read that she knew my sources. I like that in a woman.”
― Cloud Atlas
― Cloud Atlas
Chris’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Chris’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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