“There are betrayals in war that are childlike compared with our human betrayals during peace. The new lovers enter the habits of the other. Things are smashed, revealed in a new light. This is done with nervous or tender sentences, although the heart is an organ of fire.”
― The English Patient
― The English Patient
“There is no man...however wise, who has not at some period in his youth said things, or lived a life, the memory of which is so unpleasant to him that he would gladly expunge it. And yet he ought not entirely to regret it, because he cannot be certain that he has indeed become a wise man...”
― Remembrance of Things Past: Volume I - Swann's Way & Within a Budding Grove
― Remembrance of Things Past: Volume I - Swann's Way & Within a Budding Grove
“……, but as I am a scholar I feel obliged to document what it is like here, most of the time, between the dramatic climaxes. In truth it is like this: You cannot imagine how time can be so still. It hangs. It weighs, and yet there is so little of it. It goes so slowly and it is so scarce. If I was writing this scene it would last a full 15 minutes. I would lie here and you would sit there.”
― Wit
― Wit
“The soldier is convinced that a certain indefinitely extendable time period is accorded him before he is killed, the burglar before he is caught, men in general, before they must die. That is the amulet which preserves individuals — and sometimes populations — not from danger, but from the fear of danger, in reality from the belief in danger, which in some cases allows them to brave it without being brave. Such a confidence, just as unfounded, supports the lover who counts on a reconciliation, a letter.”
― Remembrance of Things Past: Volume I - Swann's Way & Within a Budding Grove
― Remembrance of Things Past: Volume I - Swann's Way & Within a Budding Grove
Nairobi 1st Thurs book club
— 487 members
— last activity Jan 31, 2020 07:35AM
The first Thursday of the month a group of avid Nairobi readers meets to discuss their latest read. Every second book is by an African author. Meetin ...more
Karanja’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Karanja’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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