over the line

“The sun was low but the air was still balmy, and the sea was the shade
of blue that black could have been if it hadn’t stepped over the line.”

—Tom Robbins, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, 2000.

Why was C selected to symbolize the speed of light when Z is obviously the fastest letter in the alphabet?

“Other, seemingly more profound, thoughts took over his brain, thoughts such as, To what extent would a given quantity of catnip have affected quantum mechanics in Schrodinger’s theoretical catbox? and Why was C selected to symbolize the speed of light when Z is obviously the fastest letter in the alphabet?”

—Tom Robbins, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, 2000.

two sets of exquisite superscript signs

‘[L]et us reach into the inkwell jewel box and withdraw two sets of
exquisite superscript signs—” for the right ear, ” for the left—and
hang them from the lobes on either side of the word nuns. Like so:
“nuns.” This, of course, is not for purposes of ornamentation, although
these apostrophic clusters possess an understated, overlooked beauty
that transcends the merely chic. (Do they not resemble, say, the
widnblown teardrops of fairy fold, commas on a trampoline, tadpoles
with stomach cramps, or human fetuses in the first days folloiwng
conceptiion?)’

—Tom Robbins, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, 2000.

earrings

‘He was convinced that the Vatican attorney (perhaps earrings— “ ” —are needed here, perhaps not) was armed.’

—Tom Robbins, Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, 2000.

A River Runs Through It: Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates

a problem

“Graphically, single letters are a problem.”

a sea of radiance

“The drawing room curtains at Windy Corner had been pulled to meet, for
the carpet was new and deserved protection from the August sun. They
were heavy curtains, reaching almost to the ground, and the light that
filtered through them was subdued and varied. A poet—none was
present—might have quoted ‘Life like a dome of many coloured glass,’ or
might have compared the curtains to sluice-gates, lowered against the
intolerable tides of heaven. Without was poured a sea of radiance;
within, the glory, though visible, was tempered to the capacities of
man.”

—E.M. Forster, A Room with a View, 1911.

oh, that cerise frock

“Though she was hopeless about pictures, and though she dressed so
unevenly—oh, that cerise frock yesterday at church!—she must see some
beauty in life, or she could not play the piano as she did.”

—E.M. Forster, A Room with a View, 1911.

there is only one perfect view

“‘My father . . . says that there is only one perfect view—the view of
the sky straight over our heads, and that all these views on earth are
but bungled copies of it.’
    ‘I expect your father has been reading Dante,’ said Cecil. . . .”

—E.M. Forster, A Room with a View, 1911.

the blueness of the cheese

“‘[I]f you are interested in life it never lets you down. I am
interested in the blueness of the cheese. You don’t do crosswords, do
you, Mr Wormold? I do, and they are like people: one reaches an end. I
can finish any crossword within an hour, but I have a discovery
concerned with the blueness of cheese that will never come to a
conclusion—although of course one dreams that perhaps a time might come
. . . One day I must show you my laboratory.’”

—Graham Greene, Our Man in Havana, 1958.