“It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.”
―
―
“Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I'm gazing at a distant star.
It's dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago.
Maybe the star doesn't even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.”
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
It's dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago.
Maybe the star doesn't even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.”
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
“What is life if not the shadow of a fleeting dream?”
― Baudolino
― Baudolino
“Because memory and sensations are so uncertain, so biased, we always rely on a certain reality-call it an alternate reality-to prove the reality of events. To what extent facts we recognize as such really are as they seem, and to what extent these are facts merely because we label them as such, is an impossible distinction to draw. Therefore, in order to pin down reality as reality, we need another reality to relativize the first. Yet that other reality requires a third reality to serve as its grounding. An endless chain is created within our consciousness, and it is the very maintenance of this chain that produces the sensation that we are actually here, that we ourselves exist.”
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
“Have you heard of the illness hysteria siberiana? Try to imagine this: You're a farmer, living all alone on the Siberian tundra. Day after day you plow your fields. As far as the eye can see, nothing. To the north, the horizon, to the east, the horizon, to the south, to the west, more of the same. Every morning, when the sun rises in the east, you go out to work in your fields. When it's directly overhead, you take a break for lunch. When it sinks in the west, you go home to sleep. And then one day, something inside you dies. Day after day you watch the sun rise in the east, pass across the sky, then sink in the west, and something breaks inside you and dies. You toss your plow aside and, your head completely empty of thought, begin walking toward the west. Heading toward a land that lies west of the sun. Like someone, possessed, you walk on, day after day, not eating or drinking, until you collapse on the ground and die. That's hysteria siberiana.”
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
Around the World in 80 Books
— 31068 members
— last activity 26 minutes ago
Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature, translated works, travel writing, or explorin ...more
Libros para estudiantes de español de nivel intermedio / Books for intermediate Spanish learners
— 136 members
— last activity Oct 04, 2020 08:45AM
Este es un grupo para recomendar y hablar sobre libros y otras obras en español intermedio por diversión y para practicar español. La idea es tener un ...more
Apocalypse Whenever
— 13905 members
— last activity 2 hours, 21 min ago
The most active group for apocalyptic and dystopian stories! Join a monthly book discussion, get recommendations, or just tell us if you like canned p ...more
Dominic’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Dominic’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Dominic
Lists liked by Dominic
























