“All around me I felt the ghosts of an immense past, I heard their whispers and I smiled when they walked by my side through the fields and woods. I relished the companionship of the dead”
“The truth is, this is a ghost story. No, this is an adventure story. This is an adventure story about how I quit being a ghost”
“There are only four basic factors that determine how good your food will taste: salt, which enhances flavor; fat, which amplifies flavor and makes appealing textures possible; acid, which brightens and balances; and heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food”
“I’ve decided to open with ‘Hello’, and then, even if you don’t care for anything that comes after that, at least you’ll say I was well mannered”
“We are all so much more than the sum of our fragile parts. We are all our journeys, hopes and dreams, clad in mortal wrapping paper.”
“What follows is a dive into the creative mind, a celebration of the human spirit, and a vision of how to reshape worlds”
“To a country boy this tapestry of colour, movement and mystery was an irresistible draw, a treasure trove wholly unimagined, each discovery bursting unforgettably into my consciousness: every newt a nugget of gold, every wren’s nest a gem, every slow worm a bracelet of silver”
“Architecture creates shelter and transforms the ordinary. Good architecture civilises and humanises, bad architecture brutalises”
“Travelling is like emptying the crumbs out of a toaster. You think you’ve found them all until you give it another bang. And what I’ve discovered in life is that it’s always me who cleans the toaster”
“I've never worried about life's big questions. People at my age sit about pondering "why are we here?" The only time I ever asked myself that is when Suzanne booked us a surprise holiday to Lanzarote”
“In the West, brave men got killed. Cowards stayed alive. Death was everywhere on the frontier”
“The confines of our mind attic have shifted. They have expanded. We should strive to be cognizant of that change, and to take advantage of the shift instead of letting it take advantage of us”
“She's online. 'I booked a hotel,' I say. 'Near Marble Arch.' 'That sounds great, hon. I can't wait to see you.' 'Yeah. Me too.' 'I'm vaguely nervous.' 'Don't be.' Do be. I'm a child”
“Baking can be a great way to express yourself, and if you treat it this way, your baking will always be unique”
“The slow hours of the afternoon yawned and presented themselves with a certain belligerence. Those who go mad go mad first in the afternoons”
“Words have been important to me for as long as I can remember. Their sound, their construction, their origins”
“We could be sure of only two things. Katelyn Ogden blew up. Everyone else was fine. Except we weren’t. Not by a long shot”
“You can hypnotise an entire audience and make them feel a certain way. I think about what they’re feeling, because I’m making sure they feel a certain way. And I know when I’ve got them”
“You think you’ve got something radical to say and then two princes of the realm go and agree with you. Terrific. Thanks, lads. I’ve never claimed to have much street cred but this is the limit.”
New Statesman
“Every moment that passes is a Lost Time Accident. Close your eyes, Children, when you want to stop time...”
“I enjoyed this book enormously, even as I worried about its brave but vulnerable author, struggling to reach the good life for which her parents once went in search.”
Will Self
The Guardian