Quotes from Sleep, Pale Sister

“Pensate all'immagine che da una lastra fotografica si trasferisce sulla carta, diventando sempre più scura, da bianca all'oro più pallido, da ambra a seppia. Immaginate la luna mentre gira lentamente il profilo sottile fino a diventare piena, trascinando con sè le maree. Immaginate la crisalide quando schiude la bara dura della larva e mostra le ali al sole. L'insetto perfetto piange il bruco che un tempo è stato? E se ne ricorda?”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister

“Mi aspettavo che la solita ondata di ripugnanza per me stesso mi assalisse da un momento all'altro: tutta la mia libidine era spenta e non mi trastullavo mai con le puttane dopo averle usate... capitava di rado che volessi rivederle di nuovo. Ma questa era diversa. Per la prima volta in vita mia, provavo tenerezza per una donna, per questa ragazza, qualcosa che non avevo provato neppure con Effie. Soprattutto non con Effie. Qualcosa dentro di me voleva assaggiarla, conoscerla: come se l'atto in sé che avevamo compiuto non fosse stato nulla... niente era stato rivelato, niente si era guastato. Mi resi conto con improvvisa, esilarante chiarezza che questo era il Mistero.
Questa ragazza, questa tenerezza.
[...]
Le toccai il collo, il braccio, la curva tesa della coscia.
"Marta..."
[...]
"Marta."
"Si?"
"Ti amo."
Nel buio, il suo bacio fu dolce.”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister

“L'amore è l'unica costante in questo difficile mondo razionale, l'amore e la sua metà oscura, l'odio.”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister

“Non permettete a nessuno di dirvi che la vendetta non è dolce: lo è. Lo so.”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister

“Era quel nome... Marta.
Il suo nome era un sospiro, una preghiera, una supplica: sulle labbra di Fanny un bacio, su quelle di Henry un gemito, su quelle di Effie una benedizione di tale potenza che il suo intero essere era soffuso di amore e di desiderio... Marta.
Dopo mezzanotte lei percorreva il corridoio poco illuminato della casa di Crook Street. Quando passava sentivo sulla nuca il suo tocco leggero, ironico. Coglievo il suo profumo sulle tende, udivo il tono piacevolmente roco, la voce con la lieve inflessione dalla finestra aperta, mentre rideva dall'umida nebbia di Londra. La sognavo così come l'avevo vista la prima volta dalla fessura nel muro, un rosa ardente di carne cremisi, una Furia con i capelli in fiamme, che rideva attraverso il fuoco come una pazza o una dea...”
― Joanne Harris, quote from Sleep, Pale Sister

About the author

Popular quotes

“She could not picture it. Herself riding on the subway or streetcar, caring for new horses, talking to new people, living among hordes of people every day who were not Clark.

A life, a place, chosen for that specific reason––that it would not contain Clark.

The strange and terrible thing coming clear to her about that world of the future, as she now pictured it, was that she would not exist there. She would only walk around, and open her mouth and speak, and do this and do that. She would not really be there. And what was strange about it was that she was doing all this, she was riding on this bus in the hope of recovering herself. As Mrs. Jamieson might say––and as she herself might with satisfaction have said––taking charge of her own life. With nobody glowering over her, nobody's mood infecting her with misery.

But what would she care about? How would she know that she was alive?

While she was running away from him––now––Clark still kept his place in her life. But when she was finished running away, when she just went on, what would she put in his place? What else––who else––could ever be so vivid a challenge?”
― Alice Munro, quote from Runaway

“... the doors of perception are hanging crazily off their hinges these days.”
― Kate Atkinson, quote from Human Croquet

“I changed Lessing’s35 words – Anyone who does not lose his reason over certain things, has no reason – into: Anyone whose heart remains calm today, has no heart.”
― Victor Klemperer, quote from I Will Bear Witness 1933-41 A Diary of the Nazi Years

“I wish you way more than luck.”
― David Foster Wallace, quote from This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

“But I did what I had to do. We aren’t supposed to be with outsiders. These
are the rules we live by, and there’s a reason for them."

-Corinne Redford”
― Anastasia Hopcus, quote from Shadow Hills

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.