How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #4
Briefly she saw him thus, and what struck her most, of that insight, was his strength. He was the strongest person she had ever known, because he could not be moved away from the center. And that was why she liked him. She was drawn to strength, came to it as a moth to light. She had had a good deal of love as a kid but no strength around her, nobody to lean on ever: people had leaned on her. Thirty years she had longed to meet somebody who didn't lean on her, who wouldn't ever, who couldn't....
Here, short, bloodshot, psychotic, and in hiding, here he was, her tower of strength.
Life is the most incredible mess, Heather thought. (7.51)
Imagine that dating advertisement: "Single brown female seeks short, bloodshot, psychotic male for changing the reality of the universe." That's sure to get results, right? Okay, on a different note, why do you think Heather is seeking strength so desperately? Why is it missing in her life? And what kind of strength does George have?
Quote #5
"That's it. Listen, you know the war—the war in the Near East?"
"Sure I know it. My husband was killed in it."
"Your husband?" He looked stricken. "When?"
"Just three days before they called it off. Two days before the Teheran Conference and the U.S.-China Pact. One day after the Aliens blew up the Moon base."
He was looking at her as if appalled.
"What's wrong? Oh, hell, it's an old scar. Six years ago, nearly seven. And if he'd lived we'd have been divorced by now, it was a lousy marriage. Look, it wasn't your fault!"
"I don't know what is my fault any more." (7.78)
In case you didn't catch it, George is worried that he likes Heather so much that he dreamed her husband was dead. Not a good first date question, are we right?
Quote #6
Haber considered himself a lone wolf. He had never wanted marriage nor close friendships, he had chosen a strenuous research carried out when others sleep, he had avoided entanglements. He kept his sex life almost entirely to one-night stands, semipros, sometimes women and sometimes young men; he knew which bars and cinemas and saunas to go to for what he wanted. He got what he wanted and got clear again, before he or the other person could possibly develop any kind of need for the other. He prized his independence, his free will. (8.6)
It looks like Dr. Haber is not the true love kind of guy; he's more into one-night stands. But why does he feel that in order to keep his independence and free will he has to avoid deep and meaningful relationships? How is his perspective on relationships different from George's?