Hi-jacking 'a silly book game' from Book Talk site 2

Previous player:" ʻOh! . . . A mere bagatelle!ʻ "

The Hunchback kof Notre Dame
by Victor Hugo

" ʻWould you let me fall a prey to hunger
which is staring me in the face?ʻ "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You had better take some rest. You are fevered and ill."

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

"Did you ever hear a definition of fame, Sir?"

" 'The third and greatest joy,' he said, 'is to leave one's mark on the place to which one has come, to feel that one could, if one wished, drop down on the world with such a tremendous force that one would never, ever be forgotten, either by people or by places.' "

Tales of the Night by Peter Hoeg

"Where will it all end?"

"Some nights I am even filled with fear thinking about it."

Dreams of Roses and Fire by Eyvind Johnson

"Can a man ever be in the right - permanently?"

"Susan Lazarus . . . beat ME
on five $1,000 questions!"
(emphasis and punctuation added)

Brainiac by Ken Jennings

"Come on, "Jeopardy",
be even-handed: Where's
my Utah computer Science question?"

"It was in this way that I began my education"

Oranges are not the Only fruit by Jeanette Winterson

"Melanie, why do you have such a funny name?"

"Leave her be,"

The Birth House by Ami McKay

"How many children you caught, right as they slipped out of their mama's body?"

"As a matter of fact, I spend most of the time out here with my horse."

The Fall of the King by Johannes V Jensen

"Would she or wouldn't she?"

"You should know by now."

The Birth House by Ami McKay

"How long has she been that way?"

"A week at least"

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

"What good wind brings you here?"

"We're travelling entertainers."

The Fall of the King by Johannes V Jensen

"How were things in Copenhagen?"

"Let us not forget Lusitania."

The Birth House by Ami McKay

"Did you see one there?"

"Not a single pot"

Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim

"Tell me, what status has an ironmonger in England?"

"We'll discuss it later."

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

"What you got there?"

ʻAll sorts: poker, roulette, horse racing, lottery . . ."

The Case of the Counterfeit Eye
by Erle Stanley Gardner

ʻANd in th(ose six months), you made over $750 PER month, did you not?"

"It'll all make more sense when you get some sleep."

Sleepless by Charlie Huston

"Is your employer political or criminal?"

"It appears that he is suffering from what is really a form of insanity...The doctors hope he will grow out of it in about a year."

Chronicle of Youth by Vera Brittain

"Were you annoyed when I told you I--liked you?" I said "Ii was." "Why?" he said.

"Your mother was dying."

Sleepless by Charlie Huston

"How else do you explain why I was so much better adapted for the future than he?"

"The way she say it, like it's a fact, makes my insides hurt."

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

"Won't you just show me a little?"

"It's full," she smiled. "We used the tins. We only had to go three times to the river"

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

"How can you ask when you see I am so busy?"

"She needs some friends."

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

"But...why all of us?"

"Why should you always want to tell one of us about the other? Have you no sense of what is fit?"

Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther by Elizabeth von Arnim

"Plums...hardly one is without a wriggly live thing inside it. I wonder how many of them I have eaten. Can they be brought into the category vegetarian?"

"Yes...maybe...I don't know."

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

"How old are you?"

"Rather elderly but with a handsome pink and florid face."

The Gods will have Blood by Anatole France

"Tell me, Evariste, how d'you have to dress for this great Tribunal?"

"Our bare bodies."

Man's search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

"Was he sent to the left side?"

"I am grieved on this account, as much, I verily think, as for the evil itself."

Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson

"Thou couldst not play me booty, dear Jack?"

"I'm goen to tell Mama you said a bad word. And she'll wash your mouth out with Octagon soap."

The Homecoming by Earl Hamner Jr

"Ashley had fine features. He came from a good family, and he was a gentleman. Emma, why didn't Papa like him?"

ʻGo see him . . . Then you can make your own judgment."

The Outlaws by Wayne Overholser

"You mean Morgan drew first!?"

"He doesn't like losing and he said I was cheating and I told him he was lying, so he shoved me and I sat down on top of my bunch of flowers and it didn't do them any good."

Nicholas and the Gang by Rene Goscinny

"I don't like silly old books, haven't you got anything that's more fun?"

- -"Letʻs play ʻUnreadable Booksʻ!"
- - "Yes: Ulysses!"
-- "Yes: Rabelais!"
-- ʻYes: Tristram Shandy"
-- "Yes: The Golden Bowl!"
-- "Yes: Rasselas!"
-- "(?!!) No! I LIKE Rasselas!"
-- "Good God! --then -- Clarissa!

The Moving Toy Shop
by Edmund Crispin

ʻShouldnt we scream and hammer our feet against the door?"

"If only such blissful ignorance ruled our nation!"

The Heart of Rock and Soul by Dave Marsh

"What the hell is this song about?"

"Her noble, mud-bespattered legs."

The Gods will have Blood by Anatole France

"Well, Gamelin! Have you brought me something new?"

Some of these last posts are hilarious.

"...cows, hastily brought in and tethered...looking stupidly on, or lying down chewing the cud of nothing particularly repaying their trouble, which they had picked up in their interrupted saunter."

A Tale of Two Cities byCharles Dickens

"Shall we terminate our conference for the night?"

"She tells me she's going to apply for special visits on passionate grounds, and she reckons she'll get them, so we may all see and hear more of him then."

We think the World of You by JR Ackerley

"Do you know what's good for worms?"

That is a tough one starbox.

"Take equal parts of roasted onions and soft soap, beat them well up together, and apply...hot."

The House Servant's Directory: An African American Butler's 1827 Guide by Robert Roberts

"A Word to the Heads of Families: ...if you can convince your servants, that you have a generous and considerate regard for their health and comfort, why should you imagine they they will be insensible to the good they receive?"

"The young are very heartless."

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor

"What would you like to drink, Desmond?"

#36: Diane, just curious, what was the onion/ soap mixture actually prescribed for? !

> /#37

Starbox: "A beautiful corn poultice, by R.R. the Author...this I have known to assuage the raging pain of a corn."/

NEXT: response to #37's entry needed

Guinness and pickled ham sandwiches.

Tom Kipper's Schooldays Memories of an Irish Childhood in Liverpool by Peter Sale

"Dad," I asked later in the evening over a plate of mashed potatoes, "will Karl Marx kill all teachers?"

// What would you like to drink, Desmond? // (37)

"Scotch. Soda, if itʻs handy."

In a Lonely Place
by Dorothy Hughes

"You arenʻt the two-fisted grogger you used to be, are you?"

Playing off #39 as it was (fractionally) the first submitted

"Dad," I asked later in the evening over a plate of mashed potatoes, "will Karl Marx kill all teachers?"

"It is the duty of anyone to prevent a man making a - a- fool of himself."

The Woman's Way by Charles Garvice

"Do you manage to keep your health? I have noticed that you are rather pale."

"Hmmm. Tell you what. Try to save up all the questions and ask me all at one time once a day."

Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin

"Isn't my word good enough for you?

"It would be better to... trust to Providence for the outcome."

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

"How was he to find his bearings in that black labyrinth?"

"I was kinda wondering that myself."

Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin

"Why are they following you, anyway?"

"I'm courting again."

Up the Junction by Nell Dunn

"What, may I ask, do you use these wire-clippers and crowbars for?"

"Indian gaming...where many tribes are making themselves visible now."

Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics by Rebecca Solnit

"What makes people heroic?"

An extra touch of finesse

Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin

"How does it work?"

"They had it ready, waiting for him. It was too heavy to be carried and so they made him drag it through the crowd."

The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin

"What accusation bring ye against this man?"

"Playing Blind Man's Buff with his children, and kissing his wife when he caught her."

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

"Aren't marriages sacraments? Aren't they indissoluble?"

"My life plan was to stay married forever. Mind you, my beauty plan was to say 28 forever. Sometimes we're just forced to rethink."

A Year in Hinesight by Anne Hines

"Does that thing run on batteries?"

"Don't you know those are old wives' tales?"

The Obscene Bird of Night by Jose Donoso

"But what's the difference if Saint Gabriel doesn't have a finger?"

"Such a trifle! What can it matter?"

Miss Miles by Mary Taylor

"She has had this frock these five years I should think! Why do you let her wear it?"

"We'll get to that."

Andrew's Brain by E.L. Doctorow

"Is that who I am, Sir Andrew the Pretender?"

"Please just call me Mabel"

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

-"Do you see anything?"
-"No, Mabel. All I see is snow. What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"You are seeing India for the first time."

Secret Daughter by Shilpi somaya Gowda

"That's a lovely name, do you know it's meaning?"

"Fine old owl"

In a Glass Darkly by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
"If a man actually has had that complaint (lockjaw) and appears to have died of it, so much so that a physician of average skill pronounces him actually dead - may he, after all, recover?"

"And you? Are you a doctor? Who sent you? Who called for you?"

"The Scrolls. too, are Mortal"
by Elie Wiesel

"So I was right; You are a doctor?"

"I wish I had a stethoscope"

We need new names by NoViolet Bulawayo

"What's wrong with my mother's car?"

( )

"Mabel blinked in disbelief."

High Five by Janet Evanovich

"It doesn't hurt to look, does it?"

"Oh look, the candle's gone out"

La Bete Humaine by Emile Zola

"Why wasn't the house being sold?"

"The house was an enormous slum, a hive of human vermin, a monumental abode of misery towering on the verge of starvation and despair."

Under Western Eyes
by Joseph Conrad

"Because I havenʻt (parentage), must everything else be taken away from me?"

"I hope you will be able to make a new life for yourself. Or find the one you lost"

New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani

"What sort of music do you like most?"

" . . . a noisy rendering of
ʻThe Blue Danubeʻ waltz . . . ʻa Strauss waltz for a funeral march - - what could be more entertaining?. . .The best we could do . . .was about the folk dances of Galicia.ʻ "

Background to Danger
by Eric Ambler

" ʻWhat was that shooting?ʻ "

"It was extremism"

The World According to Garp by John Irving

"What exactly do you want done to your hair anyway?"

"I've been thinking on that too."

The Konkans by Tony D'Souza

"Which one of them is bad?"

"You know my mother's changed. Even Father occasionally closes his eyes to her failings"

Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz

"Why does your mother live in one house and your father in another?"

(. . . Sethʻs mother had run off with a wealthy Los Angeles clothing wholesaler thirty years before...)
(punctuation added)

Conflicts of Interest
by John Martel

"Dad, can we stick with (the topic of) MY life here?"

"But it's a godly calamity!"

Sugar Street by Naguib Mahfouz

-Why don't you write on popular topics? .....
-What do you mean by 'popular topics' ?

"We always circled back to racial issues."

My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte

"What tin pan alley tune can compete with that?"

"Haven't you heard Shaykh Hasanayn sing "What startling things we see: the gentleman and the lady both at the barbershop"?'

Sugar Street by Naguib Mahfouz

"Why are you searching my apartment?"

It doesn't take much imagination to what happened next.

You are a Loser by Rick Broadhead

"Could you please send me a colored copy of the 10-year-old Vietnamese girl who makes my shoes?"

"Don't question. Just pray."

The Road to Wanting by Wendy Law-Yone

"The Western spread ...why was it all so unappetising?"

"We can't use mayo. We can't afford it, and it goes bad."

Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie

"You having a vision or something?"

"A dream of difficulty and kidney stones"

The Pleasure of Eliza Lynch by Anne Enright

"Any good shooting these days?"

" 'Bout as usual, I guess."

Degrees of Separation by Sue Henry

"How's it look out there?"

"A muddy market town."

The Road to Wanting by Wendy Law-Yone

"You're not...you're not wanting a job in the city, are you?"

"Otherwise (the employer)ʻll send for the other one."

Copenhagen; a play
by Michael Frayn

"Youʻre not suggesting that Niels did anything wrong by working at Los Alamos?"

"He proved it by doing six months in the Young Offenders"

Feral youth by Polly Courtney

"Why do you think George shot Lennie?"

"She told you a hundred times and you don't listen. "

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigliani

"Do you understand? "

"Stop being a drongo, Ashmol"

Pobby & Dingan by Ben Rice

"You been playin' around in my cemetery, kid?"

//

"Hundreds of observers saw the flame that night and the night after about midnight, and again the night after; and so for ten nights, a flame each night. "

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

"But who shall dwell in these worlds if they be inhabited? "

( a quote in the book by Kepler)

"An indeterminate young lady hockey player who taught classics; Miss Phipps, the secretary whom we have already met; Gwen Soames and Maud Stuckenheimer, the elder sister of parboiled Daisy.

Poison for Teacher by Nancy Spain

-He'd been on the roof.
-Doing what?

"Smoking and drinking."

Dust by Patricia Cornwell

"How's that for a twist of fate? "

"An odd story"

Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

"What do you consider good-looking?"

"That detail is not trivial."

Navidad & Matanza by Carlos Labbe

"Viernes has made you his secretary?"

". . .old Sir J., in the kindest way,
Made ME his SEC-re-TARY?"

"Pink Dominoes"
by Rudyard Kipling

(The question in this one =
the opening words of the
"statement" (above).
/
"Wasnʻt it nice, when want of "pice" forbade us twain to marry . . .?"

‘Recollection brought fresh waves of sorrow, and sobs again took full charge of him, preventing further speech.’

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

“Shall we run away to-morrow morning, quite early – very early - and go back to our dear old hole on the river?”

"Yes, but man alive, can't you see you'll end up on the parish?"

Independent People by Halldor Laxness

"What did you wish for in the winter, when the teacher gave us all a wish?"

"Stay alert. Stay alive."

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

"Why don't you give us your side of it?"

"I don't know.... I feel as if I were retreating, and these men are showing me the honor of arms"

Baudolino by Umberto Eco

"I have the impression that I've seen this man before, only it must have been a long time ago. You don't know him?"

"An illiterate coconut-seller"

A House for Mr Biswas by V S Naipaul

"And what sort of dowry did they give you?"

//

"One hundred and forty tortoises"

Esio trot by Roald Dahl

-He only needs to be just a tiny bit smaller and he could get in easily.
-How can he possibly get smaller?

"You are asking me to give you an incontrovertible proof of my own ability. That is what I cannot do."

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

"How's that for a stick in a wheel?"

"The chauffeur's expression did not contradict this statement."

The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett

"What do you suppose she's going to do with her grand education when she's got it?"

"I wish I knew. . ."

The Trial of Judas Wiley
by Lewis Patten

"Are you saying you wonʻt testify?"

"Try to be calm. Try to be brave."

To Have or Have Not by Ernest Hemingway

"Can I go in and see him?"

"Are you daring to suggest to me that I disobey my superior's orders and then lie to them on top of it?"

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa

"Are we going to leave his dead body lying there on the beach for the pelicans to peck to bits?"

"Bring him inside", said Devlin. " Just until the doctor gets here."

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

"Why in heaven would you assume I care?"

"I stood you up for an endocrinologist."

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa

"What harm did innocent little children do humanity?"

"'Tis true. When all's said and done, they is ours and we love them"

In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming

"Why your father not working today?"

"All this occured in the two weeks before the wedding."

The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope

"What else could you expect from stiff-necked ignoramuses?"

"That was bad enough, wasn't it? But the really dreadful thing happened later on."

All About My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards

"And, well - you remember what she did to poor Rosy Primrose when she was cross, don't you?"

"That's kind of like asking a fish what it's like to breath underwater."

The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner

"Tell me, how many lobstermen aren't wearing gloves?"

"To pull an oar, the five fingers must work together"

The House by the Medlar Tree by Giovanni Verga

"You call those four cactus plants a vineyard?"

"That sounds good enough, he said, let's run it!"

Mr. Tall: A Novella and Stories by Tony Earley

"Are you planning on swimming in this pool tomorrow?"

"No, no. I'd feel a fool. And look at the state of it! It reeks of must."

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

-What shall we do about your hair?
-My hair? My hair's alright, isn't it?

....................................... I would swear
At these rude assholes, but it wouldn't be fair
Because my life is so public, so I declare
That, after my dear father turned into air,
I cut my hair because of sacred despair.

Face by Sherman Alexie

So why are there so many poems about blood oranges and pomegranates?

"Balloons are coming back, now that the war is over."

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood

"I think about Mrs Smeath's bad heart. What exactly is wrong with it?"

"I don't think we should try to find out he told her fervently. "

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

"You didn't hurt your leg again? "

"There was a scorpion in the bathroom today."

The Sheikh by E M Hull

"You have a harem, I suppose, somewhere?"

"They are all gathered for your funeral. I was on my way there myself when when I caught sight of you from the wall."

Fire Angel by Connie C. Scharon

"What the hell is going on?"

"My hour is come. Let me meet death like a man."

The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade

-The soup is hot.
-But how are we to get it to our mouths?

"It's a handcart, Alma Bradley, a genuine, handmade handcart."

A Song For Issy Bradley by Carys Bray

"When've you ever watched a horror film?"

"1974, the year I turned five."

Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

-Don't wear clothes that haven't been ironed.
-Why?

//

> starbox

Is the thread, a similar game as

www.librarything.com/topic/180859 (Similar Game)

A Silly Book Game Part 35 ?

yes - same game - it's just going (separately) on 2 different forums

>>>

"You don't make such a pretty picture dancing with Pinky out there."

Naomi by Junichiro Tanizaki

"Shall we go straight down to the shore and walk towards Kawasaki?"

"We had fun there last time."

Eating Chinese Food Naked by Mei Ng

"You want lamb chops tomorrow?"

"You have the measurements with you?"

Marriage Material by Sathnam Sanghera

Kamaljit...held up a copy of 'Jackie' with the words 'Have you taken this from the shop?' "

"It's fresh--just got it."

Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell

"Where do I put it?"

"In the pig-swill"

The Lute Player by Norah lofts

"Sire, what is this I hear about a new mangonel?"

(Now there's a question to toy with over Christmas!!)

" I thought we'd ease into this. First get the lay of the land."

Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs

"How did she react to your call?"

"She seized a guitar that lay near and began (to sing) in a soft voice in some language he knew not"

Three Weeks by Elinor Glyn

"I want the (tiger) skin to go to Madame. Have you any means of conveying it to her without the whole world seeing it go?"

"A small cadre of couriers has begun moving things to the estates."

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

"How?"

"She inhaled the greater part of a banana,
When at luncheon once I chanced to make a pun."

When Grandmama Fell Off the Boat by Harry Graham

"Lo! The holiday season draws near
And the question is: How shall we spend it?"

"Before he answers a key rattles in the door."

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

"So do you believe in Heaven and God and that?"

". . .never was much for church, but . . . did love old hymns."

Anonymous Sources
by Mary Louise Kelley

"And the Siddiqi character?
Anything worth writing up about him?"

"A thin pale little rat with big frightened eyes and nervous whiskers."

Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs

-You can adopt them, Mr Lizard.

-But what will my wife say?

"I don't know, Lou"

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

"What can we do?"

"Get rid of this swine somehow and then - "

An Accidental man by Iris Murdoch

"Do you find that your ears stick to your head at night?"

"She ran her fingers through her hair and released a long, low sigh. 'Can you ask me again later?' "

This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila

"Too sensitive?"

" Too gentle. Try using a little more pressure."

Dirty Chick by Antonia Murphy

"Why is there blood all over the deck?"

"Her mother took a kitchen cleaver to her big toe, splat."

The Children's Book by A S Byatt

"Have you got a lovely costume, Cousin Grizzel?"

"A tarboosh!"

Proud Beggars by Albert Cossery

"Then what makes you so bitter?"

Maybe everywhere I go from now on, he'll be hiding, waiting.

Strawberry Fields: A Novel by Marina Lewycka

"Did you see the markup Vitaly has been making on the beer he has been selling us?"

" 'Old your tongue, Hughie. it's me only pleasure."

Bobbin Up by Dorothy Hewett

" 'Ad any more trouble with your 'usband lately?"

"Just a bit of slap and tickle."

Strawberry Fields: A Novel by Marina Lewycka

And what woman of action but of limited choices would not do the same?

"To argue otherwise is foolishness."

The Canterbury Tales, A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd

"Now, who is going to tell the next story?"

"Dearest Mother Goose"

The Children's Book by A S Byatt

"I am in mortal need. Will you hear my confession?"

"You must pay for what you want."

The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd

"Why are you always moaning and complaining?"

"In the morning the terrible Giant Skrymsli is coming for our darling youngest son Rogner whom he has chosen for his dinner."

Myths of the Norsemen by Roger Lancelyn Green

"How did you cross the wall which surrounds my father's castle?"

"Santa Maria ! I do not know"

The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

" There is only this one canoe; what is Mr. Paul doing with it?"

"He doesn't know what he is doing."

The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd

"Where were the children?"

"Buried in a mountain of tent cloth."

A Cure for Serpents by Alberto Denti di Pirajno

"You have come to see the scorpions?"

" I am going to call on the blacksmith"

The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

" Norman, are you ever afraid of thunderbolts?"

"A stroke of lightning could make a woman pregnant."

A Cure for serpents by Alberto denti di Piranjo

"My son, whoever taught you your table manners?"

"I'm going to tell you."

Proud Beggars by Albert Cossery

"But first, answer me -- do you know that one of the girls at Set Amina's house was strangled a few days ago?"

"Other people saw it happen: pointed, screamed, ran to help, ran away, did something."

Landing by Emma Donoghue

"Did you?"

"I was a mad, hard-hearted, wicked girl to do what I did last night."

The Virago Book of Victorian Ghost Stories by Richard Dalby

"Are you going out there to look for the ghosts this evening?"

"We couldn't do that, not now. But perhaps later."

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

"Why don't you become a spiritualist?"

"The only way to do it is with a cheeseburger in your hand."

The Other by David Guterson

"Are you going to change anything? Now that you're rich and famous?"

"There was nothing left in him but an infinite weariness, an immense need for peace--simply for peace."

Proud Beggars by Albert Cossery

"How would you like me to spend my time?"

"Fetching the yams"

Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe

"What did the white man say before they killed him?"

"Jesus Murphy, man! Why the--"

Shelby by Pete McCormack

"Were you getting scared?"

Scarlet to the eyes with outrage they retreated to the bows. They could hardly believe so unspeakable a remark had crossed human lips."

A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes

"If you go and wear holes in your drawers do you think I am going to mend them?"

"I paid fair market price."

Dominion by C.J.Sansom

"What d'you think of that, Frank?"

"None of this is the right size."

American Rust by Philipp Meyer

"Your shoes, boy. You got anything in em?"

"Soot, flakes of iron and spices to give it a pleasant smell."

The Heptameron by Marguerite de Navarre

"What can have caused you to put to death my sister?"

"For starting that fight this afternoon."

Martin Sloane by Michael Redhill

"And you think that's a good thing?"

People were clapping for a second encore.

Luminous Isle by Eliot Bliss

"Was it a jelly-fish that stung her?"

"In fact, it was nothing -- indigestion, the doctors decided six hours later."

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

"What could that do?"

"Sweep the floors, bring in the firewood and even rub her feet."

The Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

"Is he going to be bothered that you live next door to a beauty salon?"

"I suppose he's going to say it's all my fault"

A Fatal Advent

" Was it open? Like it is now? "

"Genau das war diesmal nicht der Fall." (Exactly that was not the case this time)

Dubach im Machtpoker by Norbert Hochreutener

"Bekommt Ihnen das Bier heute nicht?" (Doesn't the beer agree with you tonight?)

"The trouble is that in October I feel as if I had animals in my gut."

No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"Do you still have that clipping?"

"I tried Mr Dharmasingha's almariya. It was locked."

Madol doova by Martin Wickramasinghe

-Let's have some fun.
-What?

"Schnell, geh hin, lass dich als Geschenk verpacken und präsentier dich diesem Geburtstagskind mit dem breiten Grinsen,..." ("Quick, go and let yourself wrap as a gift and present yourself as a birthday gift for this girl with the big grin, ...")

Des Mauren letzter Seufzer by Salmon Rushdie

"Was hat er gesagt?" ("What did he say?")

"It is a long long time since I tasted a sausage."

The Lodger by Marie Belloc lowndes

-They've found his weapon!
-No? You don't say so! Whatever sort of thing is it?

"From a utility belt at his waist, he pulls a short, light dagger."

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

"How can I be angry when I got my wish?"

"Abwarten", unterbrach ihn Owen und richtete den Krawattenknoten. "Hören wir sie erst mal an." ("Wait," interrupted Owen and checked his tie knot. "Let's hear her first."

Hope Road by Carlo Meier

"Wie sollen wir Ihnen glauben, wenn Sie uns eine Lüge nach der anderen auftischen?" ("How should we believe you when you dish out one lie after the other?")

His wife remained silent. She knew what he meant.

The lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes

"I hope they gave you a cup of tea?"

"Im Bellevue werden die Damen ja richtiggehend verwöhnt." ("In the Bellevue ladies are truly spoiled.")

Dubach im Machtpoker : Mord im Bellevue by Norbert Hochreutener

"Was hat deine Doris mit dem Haus vor?" (What plans has your Doris with the house?)

"Opening an arcade"

Joe and Azat by Jesse Lonergan

"Why do you wear glasses?"

Practical as ever, my aunt gave me the explanation her sister was unable to formulate."

Natural Histories by Guadalupe Nettel

"Why bury only two when so many bones fit inside?

"It was his rigorous-looking honesty, I suppose."

The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow

"Well, sport, we may be married in the next few months. You envy me?"

"It went the round of the country that joke did."

Middlemarch by George Eliot

"And where is the blameless woman?"

"Getting to be more common and rude, deeper-voiced, hairy"

The Adventures of Augie March by Saul bellow

"How good's your Latin, kid?"

"Success was far from certain, but he prayed for good luck."

Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II by Vicki Constantine Croke

"Do you think tennis balls grow on trees, you idiot?!"

"Yes", said the two boys together.

Vasco, our little Panama cousin by Henry Lee Mitchell Pike

"What makes the dome sparkle so in the sunshine?"

"Dear, your eyelids are red."

Middlemarch by George Eliot

"Do you feel ill, dear?"

"It was that damn grenade."

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

-Your mother and I have decided to send you to Austria.
-Why Austria?

"I have some money and I don't know what to do with it --"

Middlemarch by George Eliot

"You refuse?"

"I know, Mama. I'm ever so ungrateful."

Gingerbread by Robert Dinsdale

"What will happen if I fall off?"

“We’ll see who sinks first.”

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

“Have I been reduced in size?”

"I don't know. I didn't know there was anyone here."

The History of Mr Polly by H G Wells

"What'd 'e steal a 'atchet for?"

"Edge", said Rincewind,

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

"I mean, what is it heroes really want?"

"Shining curls."

Dark Journey by Irfan Orga

"You're wasted in those old clothes. Wouldn't you like to wear pretty new ones?"

"I couldn't say."

Telex From Cuba by Rachel Kushner

"Do you know why they shouldn't outlaw the rhumba?"

"We're studying these things in psychology."

Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk

"Why do you keep looking at the door?"

"Every single time, you learn something new."

Walt by Russell Wangersky

"Heading out?"

"It has crossed my mind."

The Rainmaker by John Grisham

"How about some bacon and eggs?"

“All that?”

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

“Will that satisfy you?”

"There will never be justice for the like of us."

The Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac

"Were you not longing to be grandmothers?"

"No, never."

The Rainmaker by John Grisham

"Why do you think the rent's so cheap?"

"The area was dominated by project
housing and warehouses."

Murder at the Smithsonian
by Margaret Truman

"What have you found out, Mr. Paley?"

"There are places in that hall where the linoleum is literally worn right down through to pattern on top, and it's the think institutional stuff, too."

Walt by Russell Wangersky

"Want to make a report?"

"I couldn't get in the building."

The Rainmaker by John Grisham

"Is Lake in the office now?

" 'Courage my dear', he said, and offered her his arm."

At The Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

"Why don't you knit some socks for the soldiers, or at least some blanket squares?"

The officers expressed their willingness to do anything their charming hosts suggested.

Master and Man and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy

"What is it you're always pouring in your tea?"

"I'm not a baby, Dad."

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

"Sissy isn't home from school yet?"

"A moment of peace."

Waterline by Ross Raisin

-The family are staying, I heard.
-Aye,
-Must be a comfort, eh?

"It soothes Arthur."

Frog Music by Emma Donoghue

"But where'll you sleep?"

"At the Dongli Stuffed Animal Factory."

Frog by Mo Yan

-I'm sorry but I don't eat frogs.
-Why?

"We'll use the slimy little things for target practice, and when we run out of bullets we'll go after them with clubs."

The Good, the Bad and the Emus by Donna Andrews

"Does that mean you have a plan to rescue us?"

"We've got to choose which battle we're going to pursue."

Cold-Blooded Kindness by Barbara A. Oakley

"What kind of mother is Alden anyway?"

"My mother certainly hadn't loved me, despite her extravagant claims. Her affections, such as they were, vaporized entirely during the seven weeks she was on the run with Arthur and returned, redoubled, only when she was forced to go back to my father.

At The Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

"Did I really want to live in this dump, sitting around like hostages, waiting to see if the Colonel was going to cut off his allowance completely?"

"Let's start by getting that misbegotten coyote out of the city hall."

Final Verdict by Adela Rogers St. Johns

"Anything else?"

"Half a jug of sorghum liquor."

Frog by Mo Yan

"Pilots' leather jackets had two large pockets. What for?"

"Vikings considered death just another voyage and you never knew what you could end up needing, so you might as well take it all with you."

Death without Company by Craig Johnson

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I just asked because I am curious about people."

Final Verdict by Adela Rogers St. Johns

"I have never talked to you about sex, I daresay I should, shouldn't I?"

"You're on!" I said, gazing at her legs.

Frog by Mo Yan

"What is a woman born to do?"

"Her hands were still and I knew she was considering it."

At The Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

"It was a mystery to me what the attraction was--it was easy to see why Willie was attracted to Anna but what did Anna see in Willie?"

"The combined odour of moth-eaten cloth, dust and sourness"

Boyhood by Leo tolstoy

"O Lord, why dost thou punish me so severely?"

"Here began his rapture."

Runaway Horses by Yukio Mishima

"Iinuma brought a woman to your house?"

"These contacts will prove useful in later life"

Mr Bridge by Evan S Connell

"Mother, did you eat the paper?"

"A late lunch."

The River Burns by Trevor Ferguson

"So, what're you doing here?"

"Hovering about the bureau, tapping it here and there with a chisel."

The Three Miss Kings by Ada Cambridge

"And so you don't care about dancing, you with those little fairy feet! I wonder why that is?"

"My brain can't handle the strain."

The River Burns by Trevor Ferguson

"What do you mean?"

"He is not the kind of person to indulge with tea and music, you know - that is what I mean."

The Three Miss kings by Ada Cambridge

"Are they the sort of people whom one would care to be responsible for - you know what I mean? Are they LADIES?"

"Best and fairest of them all!"

The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan

"It's none a my business, but this fella of yours, when do I get to meet him?"

"You have got to be kidding me."

The River Burns by Trevor Ferguson

"What about innocent until proven guilty?"

"Stubborn ass, she groused."

Garlic Ballads by Mo Yan

Do you want to come out, child?"

"The only reason a person would need to leave would be to go to the library."

Shoot the Buffalo by Matt Briggs

"Do you think we'll be able to see it sometime?"

"I did not sleep that night, and in the morning I sent over a note asking for another chance; I asked him to come and see me at nine o'clock."

The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg

"Don't you remember my confusion and my blushing?"

"Don't be the victim and don't complain."

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

"What will you do?"

"Let's teach these woodchucks how to dance."

Mohawk by Richard Russo

"Which one is mine?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't gt attached to any of them."

Mr g: A Novel of Creation by Alan Lightman

"Where's my chair?"

"It's a secret now because it 'pends if you're cross or not after breakfast. If you are, I shan't tell you."

Judy - or Only a Little Girl by Yotty Osborn

"Come now, which would you rather have - mother or the pigs?"

"Stuff like this can drive you crazy."

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth L. Ozeki

"You want me to get you some cigarettes?"

I will never forget the eagerness, the hope, the joyous optimism of those faces.

The Country under my Skin by Gioconda Belli

"How can I get to see you? Going to your hotel would be difficult."

"To make a long story short, one might say....And now the war has begun."

The Crabwalk by Gunter Grass

"Can you picture Konrad with those loudmouths?"

"These men are mercenaries, very probably criminals..."

At Play in the Fields of the Lord by Peter Matthiessen

"How is it, then, that we pass so much of our time in talk of him?"

"Well, I hoped we'd be friends."

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

"What do you want, now?"

"Whoʻʻʻs got the best fried clams on the
Island? Iʻve got a craving."

Final Jeopardy by Linda Fairstein

"What do you need my weight for?"

"To shake hands, hold a drink, smoke a cigarette and eat at the same time"

Bare Feet in the palace by Agnes newton Keith

-This is my seventh party tonight.
-Seven! Does everybody do that?

"There're days in winter when our cattle dine and we do not."

Harvest by Jim Crace

"Bad luck, in other words, and not a soul to blame?"

"You don't have to make excuses"

The chip-Chip Gatherers by Shiva Naipaul

"You don't like beer. You don't like goat meat. Tell me what you like?"

"--sugar, Klik canned meat, tomato soup, lard, tea--"

Up Ghost River by Edmund Metatawabin

"So, what have you got for me?"

" . . . Iʻm not made of money, you know."

"The Beginnerʻs Goodbye"
by Anne Tyler

"Are you planning to have these typed?"

"Oh, I'll sing it to you sometime - it is translated."

Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge

"You're SURE it won't be a bore helping me?"

"It's important. "

The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins

"How could he even contemplate being with her again?"

"Well - you know what they say about beauty."

Winter by Christopher Nicholson

"She has a husband and a baby to look after! How can she possibly go up to London?"

"Four hours straight driving, trying to outrun my visions of children."

Nineteen Seventy-Four by David Peace

"So why aren't you smiling?"

"You shouldn't make fun of it. It -- well, it isn't fair to Mr. Mundy."

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

"He gives you cigarettes, doesn't he?"

"You shouldn't worry about them, there is no need. They are perfectly safe"

Winter by Christopher Nicholson

"Why do the wrong words sometimes tumble out of my mouth? What is happening to me?"

"Better to burn in a fever of activity than to put on your slippers and hide your head in the pillows."

The Melancholy of Resistance by Laszlo Krasznahorkai

"Where's your bag?"

"In a bandbox on the garret stair"

Margaret Ogilvy by J M Barrie

"Have you been lying down ever since I left?"

"It's one of my many faults."

Waiting for Columbus byThomas Trofimuk

"Why? Why do you do this?"

" ʻHad . .. (Colonel Washington) not better
go home and be nursed (there)?. . .ʻ "

The Virginians, vol. 1
by William M. Thackeray

"One of them! But which?"

"Pope Cecilia is in isolation for smashing a plate on an orderly's head. Yesterday, Dr. Fuentes slipped and fell, broke his tailbone, is going to be off work for a month, maybe more...Columbus stays away from these confrontations...Arturo damaged his head in a fall..."

Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk

"You're not planning anything stupid, are you?"

". . .every scene to be caked with bits
of business, Hawks-inspired improvisation. . ."

Goldwyn: a Biography
by A. Scott Berg

"Donʻt you know who Busby Berkeley is?"

"She is the strongest woman I know."

Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk

"And I?"

"Stop fussing and let go of me. You spoiling my clothes with all those tears."

The Chip-Chip Gatherers by Shiva Naipaul

"If you love Sita so much, why don't you take her to live with you?"

"I like men."

Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk

"What is the test for love?"

"Women are gonna mob you. I was damn lucky to get out with my bell-bottoms still on."

Call me Pomeroy by James Hanna

"What were you doing with that policewoman on your back?"

Ik was Orpheus. Ik had het op me genomen een queeste te volbrengen ... Ik hoopte natuurlijk dat ze in leven was. En ik was bang dat ze dat zou zijn.
I was Orpheus. I took it upon myself to complete a quest ... I obviously was hoping that she was alive. And I was afraid that she would be.

Dina's son by Herbjørg Wassmo

Wat hield Dina tegen?
What held Dina back?

"Tranquillizers"

Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo

"Could one be right in thinking that people actually plan to get pregnant in April so that they would have Christmas babies?"

"Look, everybody knows it wasn't an accident -- couldn't be an accident."

You Must Remember This by Joyce Carol Oates

"Are you really going to Washington?"

"I told Father itʻs too much, but
he insists."

The Last Aloha
by Gaellen Quinn

"Is this fabric imported?"

"It's a thick hide, the back of a crocodile"

Noli me Tangere by Jose Rizal

-Now there won't be a school
-And that's bad?

"I don't see no need to think about it that much."

You Must Remember This by Joyce Carol Oates

"Why are you so nervous?

"Obdulia, who was wearing...a new style of tartan stocking"

La regenta by Leopoldo Alas

"How do you beat these egg-whites?"

"Dona Dinora had come to tell her this out of the kindness of her heart, not as a mischief-maker, for she was not one of those."

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado

"If her life was peaceful and even happy, why then was it meaningless and empty?"

"She looked heartily forward to the Consolidation Snack. Alas, one day there was no Consolidation Snack."

Ake: the Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka

"Why does no one ever buy us shoes?"

"I could get you some, if you like."

Sex of the Stars by Monique Proulx

"Do you like sex?"

"Blissful times."

The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov

"Are we all here?"

"Only twelve people...and he had sent out eighty invitations"

Epitaph of a Small Winner by Machado de Assis

"Did you ever ponder the function of the nose, beloved Reader?"

"Well--that ain't none of my business. I ain't a nosy guy."

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

"You know where I come from...Don't you?"

"A sort of negro caravanserai"

The Radiance of the King by Camara Laye

"Does your hair always smell as strong as this?"

"I had explicitly told them not to touch a hair on my head."

The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov

"What's with that baloney downtown, are they shooting some kind of movie?"

'It's not going to happen. I have it on
impeccable authority."

Stained Glass by* Ralph McInerny

"Start with me? . . . What do you mean?"

*Title also used in fiction by William F. Buckley, Jr.

"I don't trust you."

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

"Why not?"

"You're drunk every day."

Max Havelaar by Multatuli

-If the omelette was otherwise alright, sugar would be no difficulty, but...
-What, has it fallen in the fire then?
-I wish it had! No it can't fall in the fire, it's...
-My dear Tina, what IS the matter with it?

"I'll squeeze water out like juice from an orange."

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

"It isn't cold, is it?"

"The sun blazed down so hot that bats and parrakeets fell dead from the trees."

Transit of Venus by Julian Evans

"What's the biggest problem in Tuvalu?"

"We have more ghosts than anything else."

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

"Does it make a difference, Lee?"

"Yes, because we are much more in our
Light Bodies,and we arenʻt so physical."

Atlantis and the New Consciousness
by Stewart Wilson and Joann Prentis

"Is Hawaiʻi part of this Lemurian culture?"

"Yes, my dear child, yes; but now you should rest. Talking overexcites you."

La Regenta by Leopoldo Alas

"Do mammas give lots of kisses?"

"Seems to me you put too much stock in the affairs of children."

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

"What do you want now?"

"The shoe-laces"

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

-He does not hear.
-What, dead?

Yeah. That was too bad. I cried when it happened but I'm over it now.

The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore

What are we doing out here?

"Letting ourselves in for the jitters"

My Bones and my Flute by Edgar Mittelholzer

-I've heard both your mother and father scolding you about that whistling, Jessie. Not ladylike.
-Do YOU think it not ladylike?

"Goodness has a way of singing that everyone recognizes."

Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones

"Ines, what are you afraid of?"

" A huge crack of thunder scared all Hades out of everyone."

the Jupiter Myth by Lindsey Davis

" Is this official? Got a Warrant?"

"Today I learned how to blind people with my thumbs."

The Ballad of Halo Jones by Alan Moore

"Didn't Zuzla find out that she was really a clone?"

"It was nothing for her to change herself into anything or anyone she wanted to be"

Hansel and Gretel by Michael Morpurgo

-We're never going to be able to find our way out of the forest.
-What shall we do, Father?

"Sometimes I imagined that the visions I saw were those which appeared to everyone who was at the point of death."

The Blind Owl by Sadiq Hidayat

"What must be the sensation of a young strong man who dies suddenly and who continues for some time longer to struggle against death with all the strength of his being?"

"Extremely severe contusions of both his larger gluteal muscles"

Augustus Carp Esq By Himself: Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man by Henry Howarth Bashford

-If I was you, sir, I'd put him in a cab and take him home.
-But do you mean to say that you aren't going to take him in charge?

"Makes no sense."

Slade House by David Mitchell

"But what about the truancy officer?"

"Get in and do the talking on the way, he said."

Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara

"The big boy tell you I was coming?"

"I see my reputation precedes me even to the nurseries of Tbilisi"

The Girl King by Meg Clothier

"Why are you so red?"

"Shock. Just shock."

Out of This World by Graham Swift

"You're seeing Dr. Klein today?"

"You gentlemen may be happy standing but I need a chair"

The Girl king by Meg Clothier

-He said you were only mercenaries.
-Lady, please, what is mercenaries?

"I thought they were Siamese....".

Rochester Knockings: A Novel of the Fox Sisters by Hubert Haddad

"Were their souls brothers or enemies at the moment their armor of passions and identities dropped away?"

"It would be too complicated to explain."

Little Jewel by Patrick Modiano

"Did my mother really die in Morocco?"

"Oh no, she's going to suffer a long time yet"

The Lily and the Lion by Maurice Druon

-The woman has confessed.
-What has she confessed?

" . . . that the first celebratory bottles of
champagne were being opened almost
before the body had reached the mortuary."

Murder in Waiting by Robert Richardson

ʻWhoʻs Dame Mary?"

"She asks Bordeaux residents the why and wherefore of it."

Racecraft by Karen E. Fields and Barbara J. Fields

"Most of all, how is it that grown-ups decided, all at once, to run from children?"

"They were never seen again."

The Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America by Stephen M. Silverman

"Except, who could fight City Hall?"

"A pair of Talib officials"

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

"Taheri. Why did the name sound familiar?"

"He was a 'character,' a lean, elderly Englishman of a type one often meets in the remotest corners of the earth."

Voodoo Fire in Haiti by Richard A. Loederer

"What on earth are you doing here?"

"He'd heard something about plans for a boat and he wanted to take a look at them."

The True Deceiver byTove Jansson

"Why can't he come in and get warm?"

"Don't let that bother you."

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

"Why don't you stay and have dinner with us?"

ʻNo, I best be moving on. . . . Obliged,
just the same."

The Rimrocker by Ray Hogan

ʻYou sure you never run into anyone that
looked like my brother?"

"No. And not Keith Moon or John Bonham or Brian Jones either."

I Was There the Night He Died by Ray Robertson

"Do you know who I am, Grandpa?"

("I donʻt even know the guy!")
(punctuation added)

Slim and None by Dan Jenkins

How to get her back to my gallery?

He forced her hands behind her back and bound them.

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

"How far do we go across the moor?"

"It's great that you're thinking about it. But I can look after myself."

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

"What's the difference between a social worker and a Rottweiler?"

"Ask a question like that of six people, Silas, and you'll get six different answers."

The Case of Lena S by David Bergen

"What do you think?"

"I say our money must go to our victims, not to a bunch of partial-birth, sadomaso lesbos."

The Terror Dream by Susan Faludi

What if the nation had responded to 9/11 differently? What if we hadn’t retreated into platitudes and compensatory fictions?

"It wouldn't be much better..."

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

"Where 'ud I go to...?"

"The kerb of the compound area to wait for a white school bus"

Growing up Bin Laden by Jean Sasson

"Are they going to play football at the soldiers' camp?"

"No one, of course, is forced to do anything..."

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

"They've got some sort of workshop there, haven't they?"

"Just a hammer."

Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo

"You come to steal our brand-new snowblower?"

"An old habit, alas!"

The Brothers Karamazov

"What is one to do in such a case?"

"That's what we ask next."

Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz

"Why was Bibi Blair spared from gliomatosis cerebri?"

"She's probably been prescribed something to calm her down."

The Memory of Blood by Christopher Fowler

"So, what the hell happened between us on the fire escape?"

"It's all one to me, whatever it is."

The Brothers Karamazov

"Where are you going?"

"To live with my sister in Albany."

Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo

"What makes people unhappy, do you suppose?"

"The coffee's cold."

The Brothers Karamazov

"Well, what's been going on at your monastery?"

"Why don't you run off home and mind your own bloody business?"

Our Mother's House by Julian Gloag

-But he can't sell the house.
-What, what? Why can't he?"

"Donʻt question me!!"

Damage Control by Robert Dugoni

"It appeared on your message that you
know Laurence King?"

"I won't deny it."

The Brothers Karamazov

"And the old man?"

"He hid in the back of the truck."

Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo

"Haven't you ever felt like that?"

"I'd be glad of a drop of vodka myself now."

The Brothers Karamazov

"Good heaves, what is the matter with you?"

"My blood, it's not red any more."

The Juniper Tree by Barbara Comyns

-It's Bernard Forbes. We are getting married...
-But what about Tommy? Is he taking her on too?

"She had nothing to do with it. Nothing!"

The Brothers Karamazov

"Well, what are we going to do now?"

"I'd like another Coke please"

Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway

"Did Mr Pascin have a dirty mind?"

"Exactly. But I'm afraid it's a little stranger than that."

The Memory of Blood

"Where are we going?"

ʻOh, hell! Youʻre going to have to stop!"

"Secondhand Heart" by Christine Poulson

"Is it serious?"

"You're much cleverer than I thought."

The Brothers Karamazov

"Are you going to stay here long?"

"Yes, which is problematic from a legal point of view."

The Memory of Bloood

"Who is his mistress?"

"She smelled of unwashed clothes and fulmar oil and her hands were claw-like"

Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg

"It must be lonely here at times?"

"I can't believe you have to ask."

The Memory of Blood

"Why are we going to the theatre?"

"I am PINING for entertainment."

What We Hide by Marthe Jocelyn

"Any particular wishes you'd like to come true this year?"

"I look forward to going back to my study to read about world affairs"

Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg

"Why do you think they wanted us to leave the party just now?"

"My hair's a mess...and it stinks like stale sweat. I stink all over."

Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz

"What are you grinning about?"

"Sorry, a typing mishap"

Pynter Bender by Jacob Ross

"You would like to go to North Korea?"

"And into the most world-renouncing of all possible modes...of life."

Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche

"How does opium induce sleep?"

"A peace that passes all understanding ...It makes sense without me knowing why."

Reading the Ceiling by Dayo Forster

"I was wondering what the difference is between squid and octopus"

"Whatever superstitions the sperm whale men in general have connected with the sight of the great live squid, certain it is, that a glimpse of it being so very unusual, that circumstance has gone far to invest it with portentousness. So rarely is it beheld, that though one and all of them declare it to be the largest animated thing in the ocean, yet very few of them have any but the most vague ideas concerning its true nature and form; notwithstanding, they believe it to furnish to the sperm whale his only food."

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

"Why in the name of gudgeons and ginger-cakes don't ye pull?"

"Jawohl mein Fuhrer!"

Look who's back by Timur Vermes

"So are you staying with a girlfriend?"

"I was such an immature fifteen-year-old that I hollered out, 'I'm going to marry her one day.'"

Holding fast to dreams by Freeman A. Hrabowski III

"What is the most effective way to really upset children?"

"Nursery food"

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

"So I hear you tried to kill your maid?"

"Oh all right, yes. But can't we just, oh, I wish you could see how desperately, oh, to hell with it, what's the use."

Fury by Salman Rushdie

"What, Nina's planning to launch a perfume?"

"I don't think so."

Mr. Darwin's Shooter by Roger McDonald

"What about that dog?"

" ʻI donʻt know about dogs. I never had a dog.
I live alone.ʻ "

The Drop by Dennis Lehane

" ʻThatʻs a pit bull?ʻ "

" ' Heeez a burd / Heeez a dawg . . . Heeez a burrrd dawg' "

The Heart of Rock & Soul by Dave Marsh

"How does something so familiar remain surprising for twenty years?"

" ʻThat was twenty-five years ago. . . . The data
of regression therapy is much better now.ʻ "

Physics of the Soul by Amit Goswami

" ʻAre you forgetting your own experience with
past life regression?ʻ "

"One soul in two bodies in life or death, never long apart"

The Devil Drives by Fawn M Brodie

"Drat that child! What has he been doing? He's all black and blue"

"The offending objects were human
animals, two in number."

Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock

"How ABOUT this!?"*

*punctuation added; caps to indicate
italics in the original.

"It is a grand mission; and after ten years and a half of prayer, God has given it to me"

The Devil Drives by Fawn M Brodie

"She had implored her friend, Dr Bird, to teach her to fence.
'Why?' he had asked in astonishment."

"...the desire of obtaining distinction in ... bloody battle-fields...

Godey's Lady's Book, vol 42 by Various

" Where are the rooms?" he asked, gruffly.

"Two floors up, and this, combined with the partially blocked staircase, might be enough to put the Russians off"

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson

"Women in particular seemed to love the Fuhrer..."But what do they SEE in him?", Sylvie puzzled "

"Soggy old bitch. Moves like a cow."

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

"Don't you understand anything?"

"Thereʻs no law against that."

"Two Men" in: "Jesusʻ Son: Stories"
by Denis Johnson

"What are you crying for?"

"You sent away my friend."

The Illegal by Lawrence Hill

"Why did you sign the deportation order?"

"French. Arrogant. Let's just say I didn't like their attitude"

Harmattan by Gavin Weston

-I can't afford to buy a coffin.
-Hmmm.
-Could we make something ourselves?

"You have an overactive imagination."

The Illegal by Lawrence Hill

"What happened to your legs?"

"Got cut off"

Harmattan by Gavin Weston

"Haven't you got chores to do?"

" ʻ. . .(N)one of us were given iron
implements . . . "

The Gospel according to the Son
by Norman Mailer

"Where have I found greater faith?"

"Baseball..'Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball...' "

Diamonds Are Forever - Artists and Writers on Baseball ed. by Peter H. Gordon - quote from Jacques Barzun

"...How do you pronounce it? Cannes?"

"If you dare."

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

"Would you not try the same, in my place?"

"If I were you, my dear, I'd think about getting home"

Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud

"Are you, or have you ever been, a member of the Youth Hostels Association?"

"Yes, ... I should have mentioned before, that ... I had form'd most of my ... acquaintance into a club of mutual improvement;we met on Friday evenings."

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
by Benjamin Franklin

"Franklin, why do you continue to side with these damn'd Quakers?"

"I'm just a poor man trying to make my living."

The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami

"At this age?"

"Please don't tell Sir"

The Gurkha's Daughter byPrajwal Parajuly

"Is it a problem if any of us in the family doesn't have good moral character?"

"I have taught them the duties of the family, of parent and child, and husband and wife; and how can I bear to have this open acknowledgment that we care for no tie, no duty, no relation, however sacred, compared with money?"

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

"I say, stranger, how are ye?"

"There's nothing wrong with me but old age. And I reckon that will take care of itself eventually."

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

"So tell me, what changed your mind since yesterday?"

"My mother died today."

The Outsider by Albert Camus

"Was she old?"

"In May 1932, a twelve-year-old black Birmingham girl, Murdis Dixon, was hired by a white man who lived in the vicinity to perform domestic chores."

(Best I could do; sorry.)

Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression by Robin D. G. Kelley

"The weevil eats the cotton,
The beetle eats the beans,
Do you think it's any wonder,
There's nothing in my jeans?"

"I sure don't."

The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud

"What happened?"

. . . the working out of some very complicated
algorithm.

The Physics of Immortality
by Frank Tipler

But how does one calculate the behavior of
the universe in some far future?

"The mere fact of your being obliged to consider it is enough for me."

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

"Do you believe in dreams?"

"Not with computers of course."

The House on Bellevue Gardens by Rachel Hore

"Where's that brandy you opened last night?"

"Despite resurgent Islam, alcohol is readily
available in state and private shops and is
publicly consumed."

Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand
by Calum MacLeod and Bradley Mayhew

"Can we forget the Happy days when fiery freedom came?
Who but the loyal Soviet friends could help us reach this aim?"*

*(The authors are here quoting Khazam Niyazi,
a Central Asian poet of the early Soviet period.)

"It does no good to think about that, she thought, so she turned her mind elsewhere"

Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabo (brilliant writing!)

"Would you like a bath?"

"I want to keep up."

Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three by Mara Leveritt

Whose hands yanked the square knots?

"That's the custom of the country."

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

" Why does not he run?"

"The Mallorcans hate milk and butter as much as they hate walking."

A Winter in Mallorca by George Sand

"When you travel dear reader, why do you travel?"

"And besides, since my heart's so big that there's no room for it in my chest, I have decided to travel the world over solving the problems of mankind."

Innocent Erendira and Other Stories by Gabriel García Marquez

"What have you got there?"

'A small whiskey perhaps.'

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie

'It was as bad as that?'

"To be perfectly blunt, I was as ignorant as I could be for as long as I could be."

Animal Madness: How Anxious Dogs, Compulsive Parrots, and Elephants in Recovery Help Us Understand Ourselves by Laurel Braitman

"Why don't you call this a tranquilizer?"

'It's a copy; a very good one, but a copy nonetheless.'

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie

'But do you think we can get the painting back?'

"They had never doubted my intelligence and wisdom."

Five Spice Street by Can Xue

"Why wouldn't this make them look at her with new eyes?"

"There are a lot of heartless people in the world. This includes Alfred."

Alfred and Guinevere by James Schuyler

"Why is your friend Maurice in the hospital?"

"He was nearing fifty, and the sleepless nights were getting harder to spring back from."

Lonely Avenue by Alex Halberstadt

"The Drifters, the Shirelles, the Ronettes, Connie Francis, Fabian, even Elvis--where had they gone?"

"The smallest theatre in London but a real theatre nonetheless!"

Wanting by Richard Flanagan

"Shoes - you were given some good boots or some such?"

"What an excellent disguise"

Skylark by Deszo Kosztolanyi

"A whole week, Father. Whatever will we do without her?"

"I've no idea, and I know better than to try to find out."

An Eligible Connection by Elsie Lee

"Do not keep me in such suspense: does she have the rose fever?"

"If it hadn't been for me there would have been an inquest"

Miss Mole by E H Young

"I should like to see you at the Literary Meeting, trying not to yawn. What's the subject?"

"Humdrum lives for humdrum folks."

Jack of Spades: A Tale of Suspense by Joyce Carol Oates

"How does it feel to be a 'local celebrity'?"

"If I had my way you'd be locked up for ten whole years"

Call me Pomeroy by James Hanna

"Ya really think you're gonna be a pop star, man?"

But no; the sound is the thing.

Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina

But okay; doesn't that lead us right back to mistaken assumptions?

"but Yes"

The Case for an International Banking Standard by Morris Goldstein

"How would compliance...be insured?"

Perhaps romantics never make great leaders.

The Ice Finders: How a Poet, a Professor, and a Politician Discovered the Ice Age by Edmund Blair Bolles

Second thoughts?

"I'm going there all the same. I left my land a long time ago to go and live with the Eskimos"

An African in Greenland by Tete-Michel Kpomassie

-This is imiak - Greenland beert ... Mamapok (is it good)?

"Oh, it’s sickening..."

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

"What books are these? You’ve been a-stealing ’em, have you? "

"He didn't! I wasn't! It isn't true!"

Animal Farm by George Orwell

"Who will believe I did not do this on purpose?"

"I don't feel so keenly as you do about marriage."

Miss Mole by E. H. Young

"He's got a kind heart really. What do you think he did on Sunday?"

"None of us look back on that night without shame."

The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

"Ever ride a horse, Robin?"

"He rode a Morgan horse no one could handle."

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough

"So, the Marquis reasoned, why not put the packing plant where the cattle were?"

"Itʻs that kind of town."

Matagorda by Louis LʻAmour

"Is there a Kittery lot in the cemetery?"

"We are made of fire, and do not decay."

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt

"Forgive me, are you quite well?"

"Everything is in such disarray."

Paradise by Toni Morrison

"What are you doing way out here?"

"Iʻll stay here."

Matagorda by Louis LʻAmour

"Mind if I trail along?"

'Five more minutes and we're moving out."

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

"This makes four nights, right?"

"Sometimes I think we shall wander like this, apparently going somewhere, in fact going nowhere, for the rest of our days."

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt

"Tell me one thing. Was that you, ahead of me in the road, in such a hurry?"

"Oh dear. And I thought it was going so nicely"

What's for Dinner? by James Schuyler

"Why don't you try Zen meditation?"

"That won't impress Violet, mother. She's a socialist."

Maurice by E.M. Forster

"What does she fancy?"

"A small phial of prussic acid"

Classic Crimes by William Roughead

"Tell me pet, were you very asngry at me for letting you do what you did?"

"You're such an ass sometimes."

Playing Tyler by T L Costa

"Why do you have this?"

“Why not, sir?"

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

“What is the nature of the impediment?”

"Out there in the sage, he could ambush me just like that."

Pukka's Promise: The Quest for Longer-Lived Dogs
by Ted Kerasote

"Anything else before we go back in?"

"Mr. Hall -- you reckernize it wouldn't very well suit you if certain things came out I suppose."

Maurice by E.M. Forster

"Couldn't you get a kid of your own then?"

"Probably never."

Pukka's Promise: The Quest for Longer-Lived Dogs
by Ted Kerasote

"What if you closed one weekday and opened on Saturday instead?"

"We must be patient: ... I cannot choose ..."

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

"Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? "

"Anyplace except you-know-where."

Ice Run: An Alex McKnight Novel by Steve Hamilton

"Don't you mean, will I stop everything and fix you an omelet right now?"

".. as for my dinner, if I need it, I may have a share in any cooking pot in the Indian country, for that is the custom."

Black Venus by Angela Carter

"Do you not love me?""

"Thou comest! all is said without a word..."

Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barret Browning

"What can I give thee back, O liberal
And princely giver?"

" . . . a little money, if you can; not
much -- ten roubles. . . ."

Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy

"How have you managed to find me?"

"The advertisements speedily bore fruit"

Classic Crimes by William Roughead

"The four prisoners continued to deny all accession to the murder. What in these aggravating circumstances was the Crown to do?"

"Don't let them escape!"

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

"You don't think I'd live in this pit if I was welcome anywhere else, do you?"

For most residents and visitors, it seems an unspoiled island paradise.

The Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson

Can we now be the wiser?

"We don't want to hold out false hopes"

In this House of Brede by Rumer Godden

"Mother, have I a vocation?"

Salvage immediately the world's hotspots, those habitats that are both at the greatest risk and shelter the largest concentrations of species found nowhere else.

The Future of Life by Edward O. Wilson

"What do we get out of it?"