“The detective story, as created by Poe, is something as specialised and as intellectual as a chess problem, whereas the best English detective fiction has relied less on the beauty of the mathematical problem and much more on the intangible human element. [...] In The Moonstone the mystery is finally solved, not altogether by human ingenuity, but largely by accident. Since Collins, the best heroes of English detective fiction have been, like Sergeant Cuff, fallible.”
― Selected Essays: 1917-1932
― Selected Essays: 1917-1932
“For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― The Return of the King
― The Return of the King
“Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.”
― Queen of the Black Coast: Robert E. Howard's Saga of Conan the Barbarian
― Queen of the Black Coast: Robert E. Howard's Saga of Conan the Barbarian
“...they discovered only a small asteroid inhabited by a solitary old man who claimed repeatedly that nothing was true, though he was later discovered to be lying.”
― The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
― The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
― God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
― God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Neil’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Neil’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Neil
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