Disorientation Quotes
"Pulling her laptop close, she searched 'fastest way to contract mono,' followed by 'top ten deathly illnesses.'"
"Her paper 'Waste, Différance and the Loss of Center in T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land' had nabbed an elusive A from Professor Newman."
"Analyzing poetry was cool. Did some people actually believe a poem about a red wheelbarrow was about a red wheelbarrow when it was obviously about existential dread?"
"To live inside the past was to debark from contemporary events and concerns, floating away until she landed on a minuscule, highly specialized planet where only a dozen other beings spoke the same language."
"But who could be more predictable than Stephen Greene? The man had used the same brand of hand lotion for over eleven years."
"The eternal inner conflict between eastern selflessness and western individuality in Chou’s poetry."
"Perhaps then and only then, she could find her way back to who she was before Xiao-Wen Chou had hit her over the head like a porcelain vase."
"She should send a copy to her parents. When her dissertation came crumbling apart and her funding was revoked, at least they’d have that."
"‘Having a laugh at my expense,’ Ingrid muttered."
"Dante pinned Marguerita against the castle’s walls and inhaled her fragrant womanly scent."
"I’ve had that feeling, too! It’s like she makes me feel stupid, and then I really want to prove to her I’m not."
"A society without poetry is not a society at all. We need poetry to make sense of ourselves and the world around us."
"I'm sorry, I, uh, think there's been a mistake—"
"But more than the eyes themselves, she liked the idea of becoming someone else. A new and improved Ingrid."
"It’s true! I’ll pull up the poems right now."
"Maybe they forgot—I would call them again. You can never be too sure now, can you, ha ha."
"I knew it. I knew you were a spy!" He spanked the air with his mallet like it had done something naughty.
"His eyes transformed into those of a different man: hooded, piercing brown eyes."
"Ingrid’s mouth felt horribly dry. She was dizzy with nausea, hardly able to see straight."
"Ingrid staggered into the quiet street, thrown by its identical appearance from an hour ago."
"Her life could continue on its merry little way."
"She couldn’t recollect her thoughts on Chinatown Blues. Forgettable, apparently."
"She realized she didn’t know how to mentally categorize such moments."
"Unfortunately, the theater also had more than one set of doors thanks to what Vivian called 'oppressive' safety regulations."
"Covering her ears as the screams multiplied, keeping the cat firmly stuffed in the bag—"
"She broke off from the human chain to dig around in her purse, then swallowed another Lucidax pill."
"All your research—on the use of enjambment in Chou's poetry, wasn't it?—has zero value now."
"I never trusted you anyway, fucking traitor!"
"Thirty years of my life I gave to this hogwash."
"And for what? So he could make a fool out of me?"
"Let’s not stoop to making snap judgments—we’re above that."
"I will fight for freedom until my dying day, so help me God!"
"I wanted to meet you—the one who figured it all out."
"Everyone talks about having lost a teacher or a colleague or ‘the father of Chinese American poetry.’ But I lost a friend—twice."
"I never meant it to go this far. I never meant to hurt anyone."
"My plans are simple: stop Bartholomew at all costs."
"I thought I’d leave you a little note of my own."
"We pride ourselves on our commitment to the progressive ideals of diversity, equity and inclusion."
"I was a cocky twenty-one-year-old when I signed "Xiao-Wen Chou" under a poem."
"Enjoy the party, girls. I’m so glad you could come."
"Are you okay? You’re acting like you’re not even here."
"But we face just as much criticism when we don’t enroll any of them—"
"But how do we know we won’t have a situation like Wenli’s again—"
"This is exactly why we have students like Ms. Yang—"
"Ingrid, you know what I’m saying. You just don’t want to hear it."
"He had no qualms taking tuition money from the Asian students he was scamming."
"This suspicion I have a ‘fetish’ is all in your head,"
"You think I’m breaking up with you because of your Asian fetish?"
"You are the most gaslighting, micromanaging, patronizing, manipulative person I have ever met."
"Now, I know it’s an ancient custom for Chinese parents to worry about their child’s future, but I assured them that they have nothing to worry about when it comes to you."
"You should be thanking me for giving you direction in life."
"I’ve always known you to have excellent judgment."