How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
I would have been hard-pressed to describe their faces, though. I could see them, look at them, take in every feature, but the moment I looked away they were gone, and there was nothing in my mind where the hunger birds had been but tearing beaks and talons, or wriggling tentacles, or hairy, chitinous mandibles. I could not keep their true faces in my head. When I turned away the only knowledge I retained was that they had been looking directly at me, and that they were ravenous. (14.18)
The way Gaiman describes the hunger birds does an amazing job of leaving us with the same impression as the little boy: we get little snippets of images, but nothing sticks, because the next line promptly contradicts the picture we've started to form in our heads. You might start to picture angry, violent ravens, but then he mentions tentacles and all bets are off. It's a pretty neat technique. Bravo, Gaiman, bravo.