1
But my point, you see is that death is misunderstood. The loss of one's life is not the greatest loss. It is no loss at all. To others, perhaps, but not to oneself.Tom Rachman
2
I have to wonder if you're not being slightly naive here. I mean, are you saying that you want nothing for people? You have no motives? Everybody has motives. Name the person, the circumstances, I'll name the motive. Even saints have motives -- to feel like saints, probably.... But still, the point of any relationship is obtaining something from another person.Tom Rachman
3
Maybe we're all ongoing stories, defined at various stages of life, or whenever people oblige us to declare ourselves. Fiction is marvelous for studying this, allowing the writer and reader to leap decades in a sentence. No other art lets you bend time as much.Tom Rachman
4
Who's Johnnie Walker?""It's a drink. For grown-ups."" Is it nice?"" Makes you drunk."" What's it like being drunk?" "Like being awake and asleep at the same time."" Sounds nice." "It was meant to sound terrible, " he said looking down his glasses at her. "You get sick and stagger around. People actually vomit sometimes.Tom Rachman
5
When she realizes that Nigel is having an affair, her first sentiment is satisfaction that she figured it out. Her second is that, despite all the palaver about betrayal, it doesn't feel so terrible. This is pleasing--it demonstrates a certain sophistication. She wonders if his fling might even serve her. In principle, she could leave him without compunction now, though she doesn't wish to. It also frees her from guilt about any infidelities she might wish to engage in. All in all, his affair might prove useful. .Tom Rachman
6
Literally: This word should be deleted. All too often, actions described as “literally” did not happen at all. As in, “He literally jumped out of his skin.” No, he did not. Though if he literally had, I’d suggest raising the element and proposing the piece for page one. Inserting “literally” willy-nilly reinforces the notion that breathless nitwits lurk within this newsroom. Eliminate on sight–the usage, not the nitwits. The nitwits are to be captured.Tom Rachman
7
Did she answer my email yet?' That's the new obesity.Tom Rachman
8
...which is where I met my my husband. Not currently my husband. My ex. Though he wasn't that then. I never know how to say that."" Allow my copydesk expertise to intervene: your then-pre-husband, later-to-be-post-husband in his prior-to-ex-husband status.Tom Rachman
9
Don’t you find it striking? The personality is constantly dying and it feels like continuity. Meanwhile, we panic about death, which we cannot ever experience. Yet it is this illogical fear that motivates our lives. We gore each other and mutilate ourselves for victory and fame, as if these might swindle mortality and extend us somehow. Then, as death bears down, we agonize over how little we have achieved.Tom Rachman
10
...looking back, has this journalism experience been a nightmare for you?'' Not entirely.'' Did you enjoy any of it?'' I liked going to the library, ' he says. 'I think I prefer books to people -- primary sources scare me.Tom Rachman
11
They had holes to fill on every page and jammed in any vaguely newsworthy string of words provided it didn't include expletives, which they were apparently saving for their own use around the office.Tom Rachman
12
He cannot deny a certain relief in being able to sift through academic tomes, fulfilling his journalistic duty without having to barge past security guards at the Arab League or grab man-on-the-street from women at the market. This library work is easily his favorite part of reporting so far.Tom Rachman
13
As touchy as cabaret performers and as stubborn as factory machinists....Tom Rachman
14
Basically, financial reporting is this sinking hole at the centre of journalism. You start by swimming around it until finally, reluctantly, you can't fight the pull anymore and you get sucked down the drain into the biz pages.Tom Rachman
15
The greatest influence over content was necessity--they had holes to fill on every page and jammed in any vaguely newsworthy string of words, provided it didn't include expletives, which they were apparently saving for their own use around the office.Tom Rachman