M John Harrison
:: Travel Arrangements
from Old Women
'Children always confuse gloss with usefulness, don't they?'
from Small Heirlooms
'You can't cure people of their character,' she read.
After this he had crossed something out then gone on, 'You can't even change yourself. Experiments in that direction soon deteriorate into bitter, infuriated struggles. You haul yourself over the wall and glimpse new country. Good! You can never again be what you were! But even as you are congratulating yourself you discover tied to one leg the string of Christmas cards, gas bills, air letters and family snaps which will never allow you to be anyone else.'
from The Gift
Obsessed by a puzzle his intelligence is unequal to ...
from Gifco
You write down what can be remembered: but the day is sufficient to its own illusions. You can never recover them. Memory commits you to the nuance.
from The East
"... never try to shove your life into a cheap suitcase at the last moment. Never try to save your books. Never wear your best overcoat. Have a light rucksack ready-packed. Take it with you to the office. Take it to the homes of your lovers. Always wear tough outdoor clothes and boots. Never try to save your family--"
from Black Houses
'I'll always be alone. I'm the kind of person who always has a bolt-hole ready. I always have a bag packed.'