I think the woman in The Sheltering Sky was named Kit. Could that be it? But that book didn't have to do with war.

Very well done!

It's post war social chatter...ennui of the middle-class, darlings... Kit and the others are talking about the effect of WW2 on North Africa; Bowles is setting up characters who are about to be pulled into a very strange and incomprehensible land with awful results. Kit's failure to understand her surroundings are partly responsible for her plight....
Wonderful book. Great writer....."Up above the World" is another favourite of his.

your turn

I'm shocked I got it. I really had no idea and if the name "Kit" hadn't been in your quote, I wouldn't have known. I did read the book, but I was a teenager then and need to reread someday soon. I say that about so many books. Also saw the movie a few years back and own the DVD. Beautiful cinematography and a harrowing story, I know.

The following is from one of my favorites, also harrowing, in a different way.

"Two mountain chains traverse the republic roughly from north to south, forming between them a number of valleys and plateaus."

Is this Nostromo? Conrads fictional republic of Guano-something...shit-land..haha

That was fast. But no, it's not Nostromo or Conrad. The location of the book is real and it's in North America.

It all takes place on November 1st, which is very significant.

Oh, ok, its Under the Volcano...a terrific book.

Absolutely right, of course.

This is a long-ish quote, but it's a beauty and makes me think of our current "Leaders of the free World".

KENT: A knave, a rascal, a eater of broken-meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking, whoreson, glass-gazing, superservicable, finical rogue ...one whom I will beat into whining....

King Lear. Love Shakespeare.

"When in April the sweet showers fall
And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all
The veins are bathed in liquor of such power
As brings about the engendering of the flower."

Canterbury Tales, indeed.
I tried reading it in Olde English once, and got about halfway through the first page ha....

"I sent one boy to the gas chamber at Huntsville. One and only one. My arrest and my testimony."

I tried in Olde English as well and didn't even get that far. LOL

You've chosen one of my favorite authors again, Cormac McCarthy. Although I think The Road is his masterpiece to date I loved the book you quoted from, No Country for Old Men.

"I am the doctor occasionally mentioned in this story, in unflatering terms. Anyone familiar with psychoanalysis knows how to assess the patient's obvious hostility toward me."

Hmm, this doesn't ring a bell...I can't pick up an authors voice in this quote.
I will think.....it seems modern, but I don't think I am gonna get it..

It was originally written in Italian and published in 1923, if that's any help. It's one of the best loved books in Italian literature.

Too early for Calvino, it's not Levi, it's not The Leopard...I'm pushing the limits of my 20th century Italians...eek! I give up...

Give somebody else a chance, why don'tcha?

Jump on in, the water's fine....

quote:

Originally posted by Ishmaelscoffin:
Jump on in, the water's fine....

I peed in it.

I don't have a chance with this quote though.

Oh, guys! LOL It's written as a kind of diary or memoir and revolves around smoking and love affairs outside of marriage. James Joyce was instrumental in getting it published.

I've almost given it away!

Hello all. I'm back from vacation. Nice to see you've all been busy without me!
BTW, I have no idea what this book is, either.

It's not Henry Miller, is it?

Welcome back kendo!

Well, when I spoke to Joyce, he didn't mention it...so, I am still in the dark...