It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times. Again. That’s the thing about things. They fall apart, always have, always will, it’s in their nature.
-- Narrator (n/a)

Importance: In this nod to Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, the narrator casts a decidedly negative atmosphere for the novel. It is an age when the news and people blow things out of proportion, and when people are mean and selfish more often than not.

But pure joy! He’d forgotten what it feels like, to feel.
-- Narrator (n/a)

Importance: Here, Daniel reflects on feeling excitement at the thought of being naked near someone else after having been washed up on shore without clothing. Daniel, a very old man, considers briefly that he has died because he does not quite remember the last time he felt anything. This is because he is in a place between this world and the...