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Speaking of Courage

Tim O'Brien

‘The war was over and there was no place in particular to go.‘

Feminine Mystique

Josef Škvorecký

‘I don't think that’s such a hot idea. Resistance isn't for girls.’

The Ultimate Safari

Nadine Gordimer

‘We were in the war, too, but we were children, we were like our grandmother and grandfather, we didn’t have guns.’

A Discourse on the Elephant

Richard Rayner

‘This is not the story of my life, at least not the story of all of it, but it is the story of my father.’

Noël, Noël

George Steiner

‘Come Christmas, sounds mix and multiply. And are shot through with smells.’

Furniture of Desire

Walter Abish

‘It took him only a moment to eliminate all doubt. The opportunity was ripe.’

Colin Maillard

Guy Davenport

‘All people with socks and sneakers were rich, didn’t they know?’

Transfigured Night

William Boyd

‘My sisters, I am sure, were immune to suicide’s powerful contagion.’

The Architect of Unrest

Jeanette Winterson

‘Buildings keep inside them what we love.’

The Man with the Dagger

Russell Hoban

‘I thought the story would be the most likely place to look for Dahlmann, so I went there.’

Jimmy

Jay McInerney

‘Suddenly Jared wondered if he could pick Jimmy out of a police line-up.’

The Lens Factory

John Updike

‘It made him feel lopsided, this sense of being plucked at by nervousness and dread.’

Thursday Night in Tokyo

Peregrine Hodson

‘The spotlight grew brighter, there was a movement behind the curtain, and a dwarf with a painted clown’s face stepped into the circle of light.’

Mouth

Mario Vargas Llosa

‘I lost my left ear from a bite. . .Through the thin slit that remains I can hear the sounds of the world.’