The Gravity of Birds
Tracy Guzeman
Top 10 Best Quotes
“Before too much longer I’ll forget her minute imperfections. That’s what you end up missing the most, those little faults. They burrow under your skin. Become endearing in retrospect.”
“The older I get, the less I enjoy the presence of other people.”
“You don’t know what it’s like to worry you’ll start to despise the people who help you, the ones you should love, because they’re healthy and you’re not, because they’re kind and you’re this angry, frustrated . . . thing.”
“Sarcasm is wasted on those who haven’t had a decent night’s sleep, my darling.”
“Your parents were far from saints, Alice. It would be generous to say they were ordinary people who made some very serious mistakes. Don't make them out to be perfect. That’s too thin a wire for anyone to be able to keep their balance.”
“His voice was everything she equated with home.”
“Your mother was the love of my life. Not everyone gets to have that. I did. Yes, I miss her, but I’m happier being alone and missing her than pretending not to miss her while being with someone else. Does that ridiculous statement make sense?” “Yes.” “Good.”
“The older I get, Mr. Lapine, the more I realize it’s sometimes preferable not knowing the answers to things. In fact, I often wish I’d never heard the question.”
“Isn’t that an odd thing for a parent to wish for a child? That he would be less than what he is?”
“Alice haunted the mossy edge of the woods, lingering in patches of shade. She was waiting to hear his Austin-Healey throttle back when he careened down the utility road separating the state park from the cabins rimming the lake, but only the whistled conversation of buntings echoed in the branches above. The vibrant blue males darted deeper into the trees when she blew her own 'sweet-sweet chew-chew sweet-sweet' up to theirs. Pine seedlings brushed against her pants as she pushed through the understory, their green heads vivid beneath the canopy. She had dressed to fade into the forest; her hair was bundled up under a long-billed cap, her clothes drab and inconspicuous. When at last she heard his car, she crouched behind a clump of birch and made herself as small as possible, settling into a shallow depression of ferns and leaf litter.”
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Book Keywords:
old-age, anger, parents-and-children, sarcasm, missing-someone, love, company, helplessness, questions-and-answers, birdsong, birds, home, woods, camouflage, hiding, alice-kessler, green
