“Of all the things that pleased and charmed me about her, the prettiest and most characteristic was her rapid changes from the deepest seriousness to the drllest merriment, and this without doing herself the least violence, with the facility of a gifted child.” – Steppenwolf, Hermann Hesse, Bantam, 1970

“As it turned out, however, that he only wanted me for a dramatic lay-figure, to be contradicted and embraced and wept over and bullied and clutched and stabbed and knocked about in a variety of ways, I soon declined that course of instruction; though not until Mr. Walpole in his poetic fury had severely mauled me.” — Great Expectations, Charles Dickens, Signet, 1963

“Did he SAY anything?” — Slaughterhouse-5 by Kurt Vonnegut, Dell, 1971

“I am sure she can have no objection.” –Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Dell, 1973

“Mrs. Brown wants to give us some opinions.” — Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, Bantam, 1978

–I’d say this one’s not very synchronistic. I”d advise the 3rd, 7th, or 9th sentence on the 33rd page of every third book on your shelves myself.

–GS