The authors’ original words do their work more justice than any book review I write, and when grouped together, the quotes become atmospheric of the state they are set in. I hope you enjoy this addition of a “Favorite Quotes” series to my Andrea Reads America coverage.
From The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow
“Boone believes that a wave is God’s tangible message that all great things in life are free.”
“Hawaiians taught us to surf… we sent people over there with Bibles, and they sent guys back with boards. The Hawaiians sure got the shitty end of that stick.”
“‘Like, the moana was epic tasty this sesh and I slid over the ax of this gnarler and just foffed, totally shredded it, and I’m still amped from the ocean hit, so my bad, brah.'”
“He and Boone sit and look at the waves together. Boone doesn’t rush things. He knows his friend is working through it. And the ocean never gets boring – it’s always the same and always different.”
“There are days when that drive along the 101 is so beautiful, it will break your fucking heart. When you look out the window and the sun is painting masterpieces on the water…”
“Waves are smacking the pilings beneath Crystal Pier. The ocean feels heavy, swollen, pregnant with promise.”
From The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
“The universe is God’s self-portrait.”
“Still raining… Steady drizzle, and occasional heavy showers all day. All day. So different and beautiful. I’ve never felt so overwhelmed by water.”
“It’s hard to believe any household once had three cars, and gas fueled cars at that.”
“How is it that we had never established an outside meeting place – somewhere where the family could reunite after disaster.”
“I worked my way toward the lemon tree. When I reached it, heavy with little green lemons, I hunted for any with even a hint of paling, of yellow.”
“Kindness eases change.”
“So many people hoping for so much up there where it still rains every year, and an uneducated person might still get a job that pays in money instead of beans, water, potatoes, and maybe a floor to sleep on.”
“Water stations are dangerous places. People going in have money. People coming out have water. Which is as good as money.”
From Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
“Through the back door comes the smell of kelp and barnacles when the tide is out and the smell of salt and spray when the tide is in.”
“Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouses…”
“The whole street rumbles and groans and screams and rattles while the silver rivers of fish pour in out of the boats and the boats rise higher and higher in the water until they are empty.”
“Lee’s mouth was full and benevolent and the flash of gold when he smiled was rich and warm.”
“Monterey was not a town to let dishonor come to a literary man.”
“The sun came up and shook the night chill out of the air the way you’d shake a rug.”
“If a man ordered a beer milk shake, he thought, he’d better do it in a town where he wasn’t known.”
“The new [hitchhikers] try to pay for their ride by being interesting.”
“Financial bitterness could not eat too deeply into Mack and the boys, for they were not mercantile men.”
“It was the hour of the pearl. Lee Chong brought his garbage cans out to the curb. The bouncer stood on the porch of the Bear Flag and scratched his stomach.”
“I’m sick of pretending everything. For once I’d like to have it real – just for once.”
“The nature of parties has been imperfectly studied.”
“The cops didn’t find anything. But the party was sitting in the dark giggling happily and drinking wine.”
