How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
[W]hile the tall bird-haunted trees, all of a twitter with the spring and the weather, and the high party-walls, on the other side of which grave hotels stood off for privacy, spoke of survival, transmission, association, a strong indifferent persistent order. (5.1.3)
We're not talking about 140 characters here, guys. There are real birds in this place, and that's part of what gives Strether this impression that there's something inhuman about the city. Nature still exists around it, and he feels that one day the city will no longer be inhabited at all (probably sometime in the distant future—yeah, it's like an apocalypse daydream on a mini, 1903 scale). Anyway, there are basic animal forces at work in the people who live there, which is slightly scary for Strether, but also enhances the place's beauty. If only he could tweet about it he'd really get along with the birds.
Quote #8
[H]e had the sense of names in the air, of ghosts at the windows, of signs and tokens, a whole range of expression, all about him, too thick for prompt discrimination. (5.1.3)
While he soaks up Madame de Vionnet's party, Strether also realizes that he's sitting in a house that is hundreds of years old. All of the houses in Woollett are much newer and have less history to them because let's face it, Paris was around long before Massachusetts was. So Strether senses that he can feel the ghosts of all the people who have lived and danced in this same house over the years. Kind of creepy, but still—this sense of connection to history makes him feel fulfilled in a way that Woollett can never offer.
Quote #9
He gurgled his joy as they rolled through the happy streets; he declared that his trip was a regular windfall, and that he wasn't there, he was eager to remark, to hang back from anything. (8.2.13)
Strether isn't the only guy who can gush (or gurgle) with delight at the sights of Paris. It takes Jim Pocock less than a minute before he starts "gurgling" like a baby with excitement about being in this city. Just looking out the window of his cab is enough to set the man's brain on fire. That, plus the fact that he's going to spend some time away from his overbearing wife, Sarah. Paris apparently provides the perfect backdrop for a man looking to regain his sense of freedom.