He wasn't so naïve as to think anyone could simply choose to be happy--that was bullshit of the highest order, and he'd thought so even before his son had, in an instant, fallen down the stairs and out of the world--but one could choose tp accept any happiness one found.
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: This quote is important because it shows that Mark is trying to move on with his life and allow himself to be happy with Alison. But he does not think that happiness is a choice, and so as the rest of the book's events unfold, he is helpless to stop himself from embracing the darkness and misery.

In the dream their old, rambling home had become a labyrinth: Floors had traded places; new hallways branched into shadows; doors had been smoothed over into plaster walls.”
-- Narrator (Chapter 1)

Importance: This quote is important because it is the first instance in which the haunted...