"He believed deeply in luck, the old man, though he was careful never to say the word. He called it the shifty shadow of God."
Chap. 1, p. 10

"All his life and all his next life he'll remember this dark, cool plunge where sound and light and shape are gone, where something rushes him from afar, where, openmouthed, openfisted, he drinks in river, whales it in with complete surprise."
Chap. 2, p. 29

"Sam Pickles started the day with a smoke on the back step before he went out walking. You'd think he was a one-handed brain surgeon the way he concentrated on the task."
Chap. 3, p. 75

"They rattled and prattled with gossip and rubbish, and yes, even their mouths were like horny beaks, and their tongues like dry, swollen fingers."
Chap. 4, p. 105

"Then they were through into the afternoon sun again, with the river wider, gentler, with boats moored at...