How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
A drug dealer, by God! Robert almost laughed for real. But then he considered himself, his smooth skin, his ability to run and jump and scarcely feel out of breath. What's already happened would be magic by the standards of my past life. Yes, this might be a drug dealer, but so what? (14.138)
Robert may laugh at first at the idea that drugs (or surgery) could get him back him poetic talent, but this is the future! Notice how quick Robert is here to come around: His first two lines are skeptical, but by the third line, he's already beginning to accept the idea. And this is another measure of how desperate Robert is to get his poetry back. If he's willing to take drugs from a drug dealer, you know he's desperate.
Quote #8
"You three are Knights Guardian. And I'm a Librarian Militant. It's all from Jerzy Hacek's Dangerous Knowledge stories."
Blount nodded. "You never read any of those, did you, Robert?"
Robert vaguely remembered Hacek from about the time he retired. He sniffed. "I read the important things." (15.129-131)
Not only does Robert starts out as a snob about physical books, he's a snob about the type of books he reads. So Robert may love poetry (or at least his poetry; he thinks Kipling is "jingoistic elevator music" (7.16)); but when it comes to Hacek, you can count him out. (Final question: Hacek seems like fantasy to us, but what description do we hear about those made-up books?)
Quote #9
"We represent books as near-living things, creatures that serve and bewitch their readers. Terry Pratchett and then Jerzy Hacek have been playing on that theme for years. But we really didn't appreciate the power of it all. We have some of the best Hacek belief circles helping with this." (15.148)
Writing is usually a pretty solitary pursuit (unless you're writing a screenplay at a coffee shop, in which case, so is everyone around you); but when a book is let out into the world, it can gain a life of its own—and a pretty social life at that. Here librarian Carlos Rivera describes how the Geisel library is taking that metaphor and making it literal: the books here act as if they are alive (as in the books of Pratchett and Hacek). Also, note that this virtual world—that started with a single author writing a book—has become a social activity, with the "Hacek belief circles" pitching in to help.