How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I know how it feels to have to begin speculating ominously weeks before each summer ends and the new school year begins about the innumerable ordeals massing ahead of him. (I know how it feels to be notified of an office meeting scheduled to take place and have no idea what it's going to be about.) (5.10)
Fear is somewhat cyclical, or at any rate something to be expected. Slocum is all too familiar with the annual fears his son experiences at the start of a new school year. Those can be some of the scariest moments of anyone's childhood.
Quote #5
Somehow, the time always passes (doesn't it, with no help from us and in spite of anything that is going on, as it passes for me now at the company, as it passed ultimately for my much younger daughter then away at camp, and passes now uneventfully for my wife at home with the help of a sneaky and avenging slurp from the wine bottle every half hour or so during the morning and afternoon and an energetic bang in the box from me at night one or two times a week or so if I come home and feel up to it…). (5.159)
Ever think to yourself at midnight on New Year's Eve, "Wow! I can't believe it's [insert year here]"? That's exactly how Slocum feels. The years pile on and blur together, and he's left wondering how it all passed by so quickly—and so meaninglessly.
Quote #6
I was inconvenienced yesterday when a man my age was killed in a subway station nearby and caused a traffic jam that made me late for a cocktail party with salesmen at which I was expected to be early. (5.204)
Slocum feels inconvenienced when plans are changed or when things fall out of routine. Gee, we figure something like death would register as more than just a disruption of your daily commute…