- i don't consider myself a real peeper--they go in for bedrooms, but it's families in sitting rooms or kitchens that thrill me. i can imagine their entire lives from a glimpse of bookshelves, or desks, or lit candles, or bright sofa cushions.
- i can't think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone i can't talk to, or worse, someone i can't be silent with.
- i wonder how the book got to Guernsey? perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.
- i could never marry a man whose idea of bliss was to strike out at little balls or little birds.
- Am I in love with him? What kind of question is that? It's a tuba among flutes, and I expect better of you. The first rule of snooping is to come at it sideways--when you began writing me dizzy letters about Alexander, I didn't ask you if you were in love with him, I asked what his favorite animal was. And your answer told me everything I needed to know about him--how many men would admit that they loved ducks? Would you care for a few suggestions? You could ask me who his favorite author is (Dos Passos! Hemingway!!). Or his favorite color (blue, not sure what shade, probably royal). Is he a good dancer? (Yes, far better than I, never steps on my toes, but doesn't talk or even hum when dancing. Doesn't hum at all so far as i know.) Does he have brothers or sisters? (Yes, two older sisters, one married to a sugar baron and the other widowed last year. Plus one younger brother, dismissed with a sneer as an ass.)
- Do you live by the river? I hope so, because people who live near running water are much nicer than people who don't.
- Sometimes i think i prefer suitors in books rather than right in front of me. How awful, backward, cowardly, and mentally warped that will be if it turns out to be true.
- Think of it: I've never seen your home--I don't even know where it is, really. New York, but what street? What does it look like? What color are your walls? Your sofa? Do you arrange your books alphabetically? (I hope not.) Are your drawers tidy or messy? Do you ever hum, and if so, what? Do you prefer cats or dogs? Or fish? What on earth do you eat for breakfast?
- I believe I am becoming pathetic. I'll go further. I believe that I am in love with a flower-growing, wood-carving quarry-man/carpenter/pig farmer.
may 31 2010 ∞
feb 1 2014 +
feb 1 2014 +