"War created bizarre allies, while peace itself could be divisive."
- Ian Rankin
"Hardship bred a bitter, quickfire humour and resilience to all but the most terminal of life's tragedies."
"You wouldn't think you could kill an ocean, would you? But we'll do it one day. That's how negligent we are."
"And little girls went to charm schools. Now you've all got degrees from the University of Sarcasm."
"...trapped in limbo, believing in a lack of belief, but not necessarily lacking the belief to believe."
"From this height the sleeping city seems like a child's construction, a model which has refused to be constrained by imagination. The volcanic plug might be black Plasticine, the castle balanced solid..."
"My father was a slave to capitalist ideology. He didn't know what he was doing.""You mean you went to an expensive school?"
"It was the laughter of birthdays, of money found in an old pocket."
"This was the winter of 2008/9. Work was ongoing to reinstate a tram system in the city. A lot of people couldn’t see the point of trams and many more disliked the disruption. Streets were closed off. ..."
"The man nodded and brought a bottle from the glass-fronted fridge,"