I am the Millennialist. All along it has been me chasing Me/both Hero and Villain/Devil & Demigod/Beginning & THE END/Inventor of Struggles so I'd have a force against which to Struggle. I did this to Me. {We did this to Us?} I/We are the broke & burnt beacon of the Future bc All will End Up like Me/Us.
What do you expect? Her life was hard. I suppose she was loving sometimes, but she was hateful more often. It's just like I said. We're all the same. We're all hateful.
I heard the ash-whisper of the Millennialist, urging me to look more closely. It was as if I'd donned Junior's 3-D glasses. See Mr. Shoemaker showing off his Diners Club card? His docility was cover for a career of unrepentant backstabbing. See how Mr. Schaefer couldn't keep his eyes off little Franny? He fought against the blackest of desires. See how Mrs. Brandt looked at Mr. DeWitt and how Mr. DeWitt looked at Mrs. Mitchell?
Absolutely disgusting; one of the most important and profound YA books I have read.
America was sick.
Our empire had begun to decay.
The girl did not know how to smile ..., but she dropped her shoulders to convey disarmament. The movement pulled at the sleeves of her tunic and I saw dozens of lines drawn a cross her pudgy forearms in seashell patterns. They were scars -- deliberate and artful and the most beautiful thing about her, which was, I realized a truth of considerable melancholy.
Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.
"Ford!" he said, "there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out."
It may be the wrong decision but fuck it it's mine.
