“I am struck by a fascinating thought. Soldiers don’t die when bullets pierce their hearts and heads through their olive green shirts and woollen balaclavas. They don’t die when they fall before an enemy onslaught, or even when they get buried in trenches, staining the earth with their warm crimson blood. It is only when we forget their acts of bravery that soldiers die.”
― The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories
― The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories
“Manners are not like bonbons, Nina. You may not choose the ones that suit you best; and you certainly cannot put the half-bitten ones back in the box.”
― A Gentleman in Moscow
― A Gentleman in Moscow
“You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough.”
― If We Were Villains
― If We Were Villains
“The name Hitler does not offend a black South African because Hitler is not the worst thing a black South African can imagine. Every country thinks their history is the most important, and that’s especially true in the West. But if black South Africans could go back in time and kill one person, Cecil Rhodes would come up before Hitler. If people in the Congo could go back in time and kill one person, Belgium’s King Leopold would come way before Hitler. If Native Americans could go back in time and kill one person, it would probably be Christopher Columbus or Andrew Jackson. I”
― Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
― Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
“Dearest Cecilia, the story can resume. The one I had been planning on that evening walk. I can become again the man who once crossed the surrey park at dusk, in my best suit, swaggering on the promise of life. The man who, with the clarity of passion, made love to you in the library. The story can resume. I will return. Find you, love you, marry you and live without shame.”
― Atonement
― Atonement
The Bronze Horseman
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Discussions of Paullina Simons' Novel of World War II Russia, and the subsequent books 'Tatiana & Alexander' (or 'The Bridge to Holycross') and 'The S ...more
What's the Name of That Book???
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Can't remember the title of a book you read? Come search our bookshelves and discussion posts. If you don’t find it there, post a description on our U ...more
Debalina’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Debalina’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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