How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
It is when success seems to be almost in your grasp that you become aware of how fragile is human existence, and of the unending possibility, almost the inevitability, of failure. And this makes you hesitate. (2.42)
Right from the start, we know the book is going to ask us to think about some deep stuff concerning life, and boy, does it not disappoint. Geertrui explains how it feels to live through war, not by focusing on death, but through her life experiences.
Quote #2
Sometimes you live more life in an hour than in most weeks, and sometimes it is possible to live more in a few weeks than in all the rest of your life. This is how those days in 1944 are to me. And also I know what was said in that other language I already loved because, as I shall explain you, these events during the battle were later talked over with Jacob again and again. (5.28)
Life isn't a game. Geertrui thinks about how life never goes at the same pace—sometimes it speeds up, and other times it slows down. Sadly, you don't get to control the pace.
Quote #3
It is as well that the future is ever an unread book, for had I known I would never see Papa again, I could not have left him. Such accidents of fate suffered in one's youth return to haunt one with irrational guilt in old age. If only I had been there, I might have helped him survive. If only. By the time one is old, one is rich in this currency. (7.64)
Geertrui's memoir weaves the past, present, and future together, and here is no different. She admits that when saying goodbye to her dad, it was difficult, but it would have been ten times harder had she known it would be the last time she ever saw him. While she's got the benefit of looking back on her life, the Geertrui in the moment doesn't—and neither do we.