Until recently, I was an ebook sceptic, see; one of those people who harrumphs about the “physical pleasure of turning actual pages” and how ebook will “never replace the real thing”. Then I was given a Kindle as a present. That shut me up. S...
I suppose it must be admitted that I was raised in a "dysfunctional" family, but in truth, I do not think I had any sense of that as I was growing up. Probably part of the reason was that all of my extended kin had families at least as dysfunctional ...
A giant grin, accompanied by a slight chuckle, had been the grand finale to any of his most successful jokes, while the less impressive resulted in a raise of both his brows, which he followed with a semi-satisfied smirk. The least entertaining attem...
The American critic Dale Peck, author of Hatchet Jobs (2004), argues that reviewing finds its true character in critical GBH such as Fischer's [review of Martin Amis's Yellow Dog]. It represents a return to the prehistoric origins of reviewing in Zoi...
One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very very obvious, as in It's a nice day, or You're very tall, or Oh dear you seem to have fallen down a thirt...
It looks like fallen petals, and it looks like rain. It looks like the sounds the birds make at dawn. It looks like the aisle of grocery stores when a song I love suddenly begins to play overhead, and I cannot help but dance a little dance. It looks ...
It would be well to realize that the talk of ‘humane methods of warfare’, of the ‘rules of civilized warfare’, and all such homage to the finer sentiments of the race are hypocritical and unreal, and only intended for the consumption of stay-...
Modern civilization depends on science … James Smithson was well aware that knowledge should not be viewed as existing in isolated parts, but as a whole, each portion of which throws light on all the other, and that the tendency of all is to improv...
[last lines] Mrs. Marcus: [as she, with Emmeline and Monica in tow, enter the prison hospital, right after Benjy throws the banana peel on the floor] Now see here, you idiots, it's all your fault, because if you hadn't... [slips on the banana peel an...
Robert Frobisher: Sixsmith. I climb the steps of the Scott Monument every morning and all becomes clear. Wish I could make you see this brightness. Don't worry, all is well. All is so perfectly, damnably well. I understand now that boundaries between...
[first lines] Andrea Phillips: Okay. You all right? Captain Richard Phillips: Yeah. Andrea Phillips: You'd think these trips would get easier, but it's just the opposite. Captain Richard Phillips: Well, I feel the same way, Ange. Andrea Phillips: I k...
Lord Victor Quartermaine: I know your little secret, Pesto. I know exactly what's going on. Wallace: Your Lordship... Lord Victor Quartermaine: Oh, yes. You think you can pilfer my filly, don't you? You think you can con an innocent woman out of her ...
John Milton: It's your wife, man. She's sick, she needs you... she's got to come first. Ah, wait a minute, wait a minute. You mean the possibility of leaving this case has never even entered you mind? Kevin Lomax: You know what scares me? I quit the ...
Voice on Recorder: I believe I have made a significant find in the Kandarian ruins, a volume of ancient Sumarian burial practices and funerary incantations. It is entitled "Naturum De Montum", roughly translated: Book of the Dead. The book is bound i...
[Elizabeth presents her ideas of religious reform to Parliament; the bishops are outraged and begin to argue] First Bishop: Madam, by this act... by this act, you force us to relinquish our allegiance to the Holy Father. Elizabeth: How can I force yo...
Deputy Lester: [referring to the mistreatment of Rambo] I was just talking to Mitch, and he said that Gault and a couple of the deputies were... a little hard on the guy. State Police Capt. Dave Kern: Assholes! Teasle: It doesn't make one goddamn bit...
[first lines] [Tyler points a gun into the Narrator's mouth] Narrator: [voiceover] People are always asking me if I know Tyler Durden. Tyler Durden: Three minutes. This is it - ground zero. Would you like to say a few words to mark the occasion? Narr...
Seth Brundle: You have to leave now, and never come back here. Have you ever heard of insect politics? Neither have I. Insects... don't have politics. They're very... brutal. No compassion, no compromise. We can't trust the insect. I'd like to become...
Judge Randolph: [Judge Randolph reading the verdict] Lance Corporal Dawson, Private First Class Downey. [Two defendants rises] Judge Randolph: On the charge of murder, the members find the accused not guilty. On the charge of conspiracy to commit mur...
[first lines] Marlin: Wow. Coral: Mmm. Marlin: Wow. Coral: Mm-hmm. Marlin: Wow. Coral: Yes, Marlin. I... No, I see it. It's beautiful. Marlin: So, Coral, when you said you wanted an ocean view, you didn't think you were going to get the whole ocean, ...
Narrator: [introducing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor] What you will see are the different things that might pass through your mind if you sat in a concert hall listening to this music. At first, you are more or less conscious of the orchestra. ...
