Timothy

Add friend

Timothy’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (21)
currently-reading‎ (0)

read‎ (46)
did-not-finish‎ (0)

fiction‎ (35)
politics-history-etc‎ (26)

favorites‎ (7)

Stats | More…

“He contained two equal sorts of knowledge: the warm lazy knowledge that above on the mountain a blond girl in a white dress waited for him, shy and eager; and the cooler knowledge that this was unlikely and the good of climbing was the exercise and view from the top. There was no conflict between these knowledges, his mind passed easily from one to the other, but when he stood up to begin the last of the climb the thought of the girl was stronger.”
― Alasdair Gray, Lanark: A Life in Four Books

1 likes

“People in Scotland have a queer idea of the arts. They think you can be an artist in your spare time, though nobody expects you to be a spare-time dustman, engineer, lawyer or brain surgeon.”
― Alasdair Gray, Lanark: A Life in Four Books

16 likes

“At last she interrupted with a harsh rattle of laughter. "Oh, yes, I like this book! Crazy hopes of a glamorous, rich, colorful life and then abduction, rape, slavery. That book, at least, is true."
"It is not true. It is a male sex fantasy."
"And life for most women is just that, a performance in a male sex fantasy. The stupid ones don't notice, they've been trained for it since they were babies, so they're happy. And of course the writer of that book made things obvious by speeding them up. What happens to the Blandish girl in a few weeks takes a lifetime for the rest of us.”
― Alasdair Gray, Lanark: A Life in Four Books

5 likes

“... I wish I could make you like death a little more. It's a great preserver. Without it the loveliest things change slowly into face, as you will discover if you insist on having much more life.”
― Alasdair Gray, Lanark: A Life in Four Books

3 likes

“One day after the exams, the teachers sat at their desks correcting papers while the pupils read comics, played chess or cards or talked quietly in groups. Coulter at a desk in front of Thaw turned round and said, "What are ye reading?"

Thaw showed a book of critical essays on art and literature.

Coulter said accusingly, "You don't read that for fun."

"Yes, I read it for fun."

"People our age don't read that sort of book for fun. They read it to show they're superior."

"But I read this sort of book even when there's nobody around to see me."

"That shows you arenae trying to make us think you're superior, you're trying to make yourself think you're superior.”
― Alasdair Gray, Lanark: A Life in Four Books

8 likes

More of Timothy’s quotes…