Purnima Rao

“Perhaps, at some point, Yeong-hye had simply let fall the slender thread which had kept her connected with everyday life. During the past insomniac months, In-hye had sometimes felt as though she was living in a state of total chaos. If it hadn’t been for Ji-woo – if it hadn’t been for the sense of responsibility she felt towards him – perhaps she too might have relinquished her grip on that thread.”
― Han Kang, The Vegetarian

“We could start, perhaps, with the seemingly simple question, What is History? Any thoughts, Webster?’ ‘History is the lies of the victors,’ I replied, a little too quickly. ‘Yes, I was rather afraid you’d say that. Well, as long as you remember that it is also the self-delusions of the defeated. Simpson?’ Colin was more prepared than me. ‘History is a raw onion sandwich, sir.’ ‘For what reason?’ ‘It just repeats, sir. It burps. We’ve seen it again and again this year. Same old story, same old oscillation between tyranny and rebellion, war and peace, prosperity and impoverishment.’ ‘Rather a lot for a sandwich to contain, wouldn’t you say?’ We laughed far more than was required, with an end-of-term hysteria. ‘Finn?’ ‘“History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.” ’ ‘Is it, indeed? Where did you find that?’ ‘Lagrange, sir. Patrick Lagrange. He’s French.”
― Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

“I survived. ‘He survived to tell the tale’ – that’s what people say, don’t they? History isn’t the lies of the victors, as I once glibly assured Old Joe Hunt; I know that now. It’s more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious nor defeated.”
― Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

“For most of us, the first experience of love, even if it doesn’t work out – perhaps especially when it doesn’t work out – promises that here is the thing that validates, that vindicates life. And though subsequent years might alter this view, until some of us give up on it altogether, when love first strikes, there’s nothing like it, is there? Agreed?”
― Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending