Based on Djhilwol's recommendations, I recently picked up Kate Atkinson's Life After Life. It was my first time reading something by the British author, and it transported me back to living in London: Argyll Road, Kensington High Street, Holland Park. Like Replay (one of my all-time favorites), Atkinson's novel examines what you would change if you could re-live your life.
I thought the novel was pretty depressing -- most of it occurs during the World Wars -- but here are some of my favorite passages:
I thought the novel was pretty depressing -- most of it occurs during the World Wars -- but here are some of my favorite passages:
- "Ursula craved solitude but she hated loneliness, a conundrum that she couldn't even begin to solve."
- "Pamela, even at a distance, was the voice of her conscience, but then it was very easy to have a conscience from a distance."
- "She noticed recently that the more he rose through the echelons in the ministry, the more one-sided their conversations had become. He made statements, raised questions, answered the questions and drew conclusions without ever needing to involve her in the exchange. (A lawyer's way perhaps.)"
