quotian

[quotian]

Above us, innumerable fireflies lit the branches, and I had the sense that the snouts and eyes of the forest were fixed upon us. Some animals could see in the dark, but it was only humans who deliberately sought out every possible route into the darkness of our own interiors. As a species, we have never encountered a cave, a door, or an entrance of any kind that we did not want to enter. We are never satisfied with only one way in. We will always try every possibility, even the blackest and most forbidding passages.

the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

What her name, Lucy something, Lucy Goosey, who she had wenty thousand other cases an zero esperience so she convinced my stupid twenty-three-years-old ass to plead guilty steady goin to trial, cause that made it easier for everybody ass cept mines, an the title a this here Lifetime TV miniseries event be Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta. Plus, I did do it, but that ain't the point. Or I didn't do it do it, like shooting the lady or whatever, but Ise there, an I couldn't prove I had no good intentions or nothin. So tween the lousy lawyer an the prosecutor who had some kinda thing against mem I got the maximum, honey. An I couldn't stay outta trouble. I hadda defend myself sometime.

didn't nobody give a shit what happened to carlotta - james hanaham

[quotian]

I had stumbled to this action instinctively, out of a feeling that was not unique to me. I cannot be the only one who believes that if others just saw who I really was, then I would be understood and, perhaps, loved. But what would happen if one took off the mask and the other saw one not with love but with horror, disgust, anger? What if the self that one exposes is as unpleasing to others as the mask, or even worse?

the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

The problem with killing all the Viet Cong was that there would always be more, teeming in the walls of our minds, breathing heavily under the floorboards of our souls, orgiastically reproducing out of our sight.

the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

Refugees such as ourselves could never dare question the Disneyland ideology followed by most Americans, that theirs was the happiest place on earth. But Dr. Hedd was beyond reproach, for he was an English immigrant. His very existence as such validated the legitimacy of the former colonies, while his heritage and accent triggered the latent Anglophilia and inferiority complex found in many Americans.

the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

Americans on average do not trust intellectuals, but they are cowed by power and stunned by celebrity. Not only did Dr. Hedd have a measure of both, he also possessed an English accent, which affected Americans the way a dog whistle stimulated canines. I was immune to the accent, not having been colonized by the English, and I was determined to hold my own in this impromptu seminar.

the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

I can run my fingers along the broad and waxy leaves of new plants, I can crush the tiny peppercorn bulb-heads of frogflowers between my fingers and smell the bitter perfume. salt - adam roberts

[quotian]

We watched as the men commanded by the grizzled captain and te affectless lieutenant rose and stretched, scratching at various parts of their lumpy bodies. Those guys have death wishes, I said. Don't you get it? They've got no intention of coming back. They know it's a suicide mission. Life's a suicide mission. That's very philosophical of you, I said. It doesn't change the fact that you're crazy. the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

What's crazy is living when there's no reason to live, he said. What am I living for? A life in an apartment? That's not a home. It's a jail cell without bars. All of us - we're all in jail cells without bars. We're not men anymore. Not after the Americans fucked us twice and made our wives and kids watch. First the Americans said we'll save your yellow skins. Just do what we say. Fight our way, take our money, give us your women, then you'll be free. Things didn't work our that way, did they? Then, after fucking us, they rescued us. They just didn't tell us they'd cut off our balls and cut out our tongues along the way. the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

They want their country back, dear Aunt, but they also yearn for recognition and remembrance from that country that no longer exists, from wives and children, from future descendants, from the men they used to be. If they die, call them fools. But if they do not fail, they are heroes and visionaries, whether alive or dead. Perhaps I shall return with them to our country, regardless of what the General has to say. the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

Dear Aunt, I wrote in visible ink, These men are not to be underestimated. Napoleon said men will die for bits of ribbon pinned to their chests, but the General understands that even more men will die for a man who remembered their names, as he does theirs. When he inspects them, he walks among them, eats with them, calls them by their names and asks about wifes, children, girlfriends, hometowns. All anyone ever wants is to be recognized and remembered. Neither is possible without the other. the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

Nothing was so true, and yet nothing was so mysterious, for the question of who the people were and what they might want remained unanswered. The lack of an answer mattered not; indeed, the lack of an answer was part of the power of the idea of the people that brought the men to their feet and the tears to their eyes as they shouted, Down with communism! the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

He winced. I had hit him where it hurt, in the solar plexus of his conscience, where everyone who was an idealist was vulnerable. Disarming an idealist was easy. One only needed to ask why the idealist was not on the front line of the particular battle he had chosen. The question was one of commitment, and I knew, even if he did not, that I was one of the committed. the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

Vodka was one of the three things the Soviet Union made that were suitable for export, not counting political exiles; the other two were weapons and novels. Weapons I professionally admired, but the vodka and novels I loved. the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen

[quotian]

His body was still warm when the stories started wafting like sewer smells through the streets. The wolf pack of ambassadors and diplomats took in great lungfuls, then dispatched their own versions of events in the saddlebags of fast horses across the land: stories of how His Holiness' corpse lay shriveled, despite an empty flagon of blood drained from the veins of Roman street boys on the orders of a Jewish doctor, who had vowed it would save his life; how those same bloodless boys were already feeding the fishes in the Tiber as the doctor fled the city. blood and beauty - sarah dunant

[quotian]

Inside, the air is sour with the sweat of old flesh. Rome in August is a city of swelter and death. blood and beauty - sarah dunant

[quotian]

You came and said we were friends, but what we didn't know was that you could never trust us, much less respect us. Only losers like us couldn't have seen what's so obvious now, how you wouldn't want anyone for you friend who actually wanted to be your friend. Deep down you suspect only fools and traitors would believe your promises. the sympathizer - viet thanh nguyen