Striking & Powerful Quote: The first time I saw him undress, you know what I thought of, Barbara? Fresh garden vegetables wrapped in a clean white hankie. Mushrooms fresh from the soil. No, really. He was edible. He washed his hair every night. Imagine! It was limp with cleanness. The vanity of adolescence probably. Or no – perhaps the anxiety of it. His body was a new toy still: he hadn’t learned to treat it with the indifferent neglect of adults. – pg.2
Word-Image: Pottery. I repeated the word quietly to myself. It was too perfect: I pictured her, the dreamy maiden poised at her wheel, massaging tastefully mottled milk jugs into being. –pg.13
Sound-Image: The chirpy claptrap of the early morning has died away, and those staff members who are not milling about, checking their timetables and so on, sprawl in lugubrious silence. – pg.12
Haiku: She closed her door, but Relationship de chaleur, She sensed bond on her
What was she thinking? – Update #2
Chapter 2 + 3
Striking & Powerful Quote: People were hypervigilant these days, because of child abuse. In the rush to guard against the sickos, the world had gone slightly mad. There were people who wouldn’t take pictures of their naked children anymore, for fear of being reported to the police by the man at the developer’s. – pg.52
Word-Image: They have all seen the American films in which lovely young women tame innercity thugs with recitations of Dylan Thomas. They, too, want to conquer their little charges’ hearts with poetry and compassion. –pg.29
There it was again – the perverse refusal to acknowledge my hostility. She seemed to me like some magical lake in a fairy tale: nothing could disturb the mirror-calm on her surface. My snide comments and bitter jokes disappeared soundlessly into her depths, leaving not so much as a ripple. –pg.42
Sound-Image: Together, they made a sound raucous enough to penetrate the windows of my classroom. Ha ha ha. – pg.34
Haiku: The vulnerable Incoming imbroglio She felt affection
What was she thinking? – Update #3
Chapter 4
Striking & Powerful Quote: “They have to. You have to lose that mad sexual alertness you had when you were out in the world on your own. .... I’ve never been so grateful to be married – so relieved that I would never have to be naked in front of a stranger again. But I’d forgotten how exhilarating it is to expose yourself . . . to be a little scared. As soon as Steven kissed me, it all came back in an instant. The, you know, high of it. I was amazed at how I could have lived without that for so long.” – pg.75
Word-Image: It must have been a pretty comic sight – the little suitor reaching on tippy-toe for his middle-aged mistress, the bike smashing to the ground. –pg.75
Sound-Image: He had a crush on her; he had been developing this crush for some time. She had discouraged it or, at very least, failed to discourage it. Now, he was going to declare himself, and she – because she could think of no other feasible reaction – was going to affect amazement and horror. – pg.73
Haiku: Confession. First kiss. Amazement and horror Marriage fall asleep
What was she thinking? – Update #4
Chapter 5
Striking & Powerful Quote: I find it mind boggling that anyone should consider the sexual abuse of a minor a laughing matter. I can only suppose that Mrs. Hart is benefitting from society’s double standards when it comes to sex. If Steven had been a girl, I don’t think anyone would have been making jokes and I don’t think anyone would have had the cheek to question his innocence. – pg.89
Word-Image: “But the truth is, Barbara, doing that kind of thing is easy. You know how you sometimes have another drink even though you know you’re going to have a hangover tomorrow? Or, or, you take a bite of your doughnut, even though you know it’s going straight to your thighs? Well, it’s like that. You keep saying No, no, no until the moment when you say, Oh bugger it. Yes.” –pg.87
Sound-Image: “What are you doing?” Sheba asked. There was indignation in her voice, but she allowed herself to be pulled. It was much darker than it had been on the path, and she could barely see Connolly’s face. A fairy-tale image came to her of a goblin dragging a princess back to his forest lair. – pg.83
Haiku: Their relationship Laughing or serious matter? Double standards
Foreword + Chapter 1
Striking & Powerful Quote:
The first time I saw him undress, you know what I thought of, Barbara? Fresh garden vegetables wrapped in a clean white hankie. Mushrooms fresh from the soil. No, really. He was edible. He washed his hair every night. Imagine! It was limp with cleanness. The vanity of adolescence probably. Or no – perhaps the anxiety of it. His body was a new toy still: he hadn’t learned to treat it with the indifferent neglect of adults. – pg.2
Word-Image:
Pottery. I repeated the word quietly to myself. It was too perfect: I pictured her, the dreamy maiden poised at her wheel, massaging tastefully mottled milk jugs into being. –pg.13
Sound-Image:
The chirpy claptrap of the early morning has died away, and those staff members who are not milling about, checking their timetables and so on, sprawl in lugubrious silence. – pg.12
Haiku:
She closed her door, but
Relationship de chaleur,
She sensed bond on her
What was she thinking? – Update #2
Chapter 2 + 3
Striking & Powerful Quote:
People were hypervigilant these days, because of child abuse. In the rush to guard against the sickos, the world had gone slightly mad. There were people who wouldn’t take pictures of their naked children anymore, for fear of being reported to the police by the man at the developer’s. – pg.52
Word-Image:
They have all seen the American films in which lovely young women tame innercity thugs with recitations of Dylan Thomas. They, too, want to conquer their little charges’ hearts with poetry and compassion. –pg.29
There it was again – the perverse refusal to acknowledge my hostility. She seemed to me like some magical lake in a fairy tale: nothing could disturb the mirror-calm on her surface. My snide comments and bitter jokes disappeared soundlessly into her depths, leaving not so much as a ripple. –pg.42
Sound-Image:
Together, they made a sound raucous enough to penetrate the windows of my classroom. Ha ha ha. – pg.34
Haiku:
The vulnerable
Incoming imbroglio
She felt affection
What was she thinking? – Update #3
Chapter 4
Striking & Powerful Quote:
“They have to. You have to lose that mad sexual alertness you had when you were out in the world on your own. .... I’ve never been so grateful to be married – so relieved that I would never have to be naked in front of a stranger again. But I’d forgotten how exhilarating it is to expose yourself . . . to be a little scared. As soon as Steven kissed me, it all came back in an instant. The, you know, high of it. I was amazed at how I could have lived without that for so long.” – pg.75
Word-Image:
It must have been a pretty comic sight – the little suitor reaching on tippy-toe for his middle-aged mistress, the bike smashing to the ground. –pg.75
Sound-Image:
He had a crush on her; he had been developing this crush for some time. She had discouraged it or, at very least, failed to discourage it. Now, he was going to declare himself, and she – because she could think of no other feasible reaction – was going to affect amazement and horror. – pg.73
Haiku:
Confession. First kiss.
Amazement and horror
Marriage fall asleep
What was she thinking? – Update #4
Chapter 5
Striking & Powerful Quote:
I find it mind boggling that anyone should consider the sexual abuse of a minor a laughing matter. I can only suppose that Mrs. Hart is benefitting from society’s double standards when it comes to sex. If Steven had been a girl, I don’t think anyone would have been making jokes and I don’t think anyone would have had the cheek to question his innocence. – pg.89
Word-Image:
“But the truth is, Barbara, doing that kind of thing is easy. You know how you sometimes have another drink even though you know you’re going to have a hangover tomorrow? Or, or, you take a bite of your doughnut, even though you know it’s going straight to your thighs? Well, it’s like that. You keep saying No, no, no until the moment when you say, Oh bugger it. Yes.” –pg.87
Sound-Image:
“What are you doing?” Sheba asked. There was indignation in her voice, but she allowed herself to be pulled. It was much darker than it had been on the path, and she could barely see Connolly’s face. A fairy-tale image came to her of a goblin dragging a princess back to his forest lair. – pg.83
Haiku:
Their relationship
Laughing or serious matter?
Double standards