Smilla's Sense of Snow; final group of quotes

"A breakdown doesn't necessarily have to be a collapse; it can also take the form of a quiet slide into resignation."

"I've never liked the dark. I've never understood the Danish penchant for wandering around at night. Taking a stroll in pitch darkness. Nightingale walks in the woods. Insisting on gazing at the stars. Nighttime orienteering.

You have to respect the dark. Night is the time when space simmers with evil and peril. You can call it superstitious. You can call it fear of the dark. But it's ridiculous to pretend that the night is just like the day, simply without light. Night is the time to huddle together indoors."

"He is the quintessential Dane, with his fear, his iron resolve to repress what's happening around him. And his indomitable optimism."

(Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow)

Don't get mad at me, the author is Danish

"I've always been fascinated by the melancholy shamelessness with which Danes accept the enormous gap between their common sense and their actions."

(Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow)

First impressions

"It's difficult to judge his age. From Elsa Lubing I know that he must be over seventy. But he looks healthy and athletic, as if every morning he walks barefoot across his beachfront and down to the sea, where he saws a hole in the ice and takes a refreshing dip, then runs back and eats a little bowl of gladiator muesli with skim milk."

(Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow)

Ha! I'm not the only one

"I don't like talking on the phone. I want to see whom I'm talking to."

(Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow)

I'll have a serving of great olive oil, please, with a side dish of humor

"The first thing he did when he got home was attack the salmon. A hefty slice dressed with fresh lemon juice and a special olive oil given him by the person who made it. ('The virginity of this olive oil has been certified by a gynecologist,' said a little ticket that came with it.)"

(Andrea Camilleri, in The Paper Moon)

You're looking good

"He arrived a bit early for his appointment with Marshal Lagana. 'You're looking good,' said the marshal, eyeing him. Montalbano got worried. Often of late that statement didn't sound right to him. If someone tells you you're looking good, it means they were expecting you not to look so good. And why were they thinking that? Because you've reached an age where the worst could happen overnight. To take one example: Up to a certain point in life, if you slip and fall, you get right up, because nothing's happened to you. Then the moment comes when you slip and fall and you can't get up anymore, because you've broken your femur. What's happened? What's happened is you've crossed the invisible boundary between one age of life and the next."

(Andrea Camilleri, in The Paper Moon)

Discussing literature at our house

Actual conversation, verbatim, regarding The Echo Maker by Richard Powers:

Patrick: "You might like this book, actually."

Me: "I might like this book, the same one that's been boring you to tears?"

Patrick: "Yes, but he's got a bunch of stuff in there about brain damage and mental health that would probably be interesting to you. I'm not into that kind of thing; I'm looking for a story."

Me: "You're not into mental health?"

Patrick: "It's overrated."