The Man Who Saw Everything
by Deborah Levy
(Penguin, 2019)
We had quite vigorous sex and afterwards I really began to ache.
Page 11.
‘You know, I think it’s over between us, Saul. We should call it a day, but I’ll send you the Abbey Road photos anyway. Have a good time in East Berlin. I hope it works out with your visa.’
Page 12.
We kissed on the wall like teenagers, her tongue deep in my mouth, my knee wedged between her thighs.
Page20.
It was odd to speak to a florist who was terrified of flowers.
Page 21.
What with the car accident and my first ever offer of marriage being rejected, it felt like I had been beaten up.
Page23.
I was enjoying reminiscing about Jack with a decorative, illegal dog on my lap.
Page 32.
Although I was sitting on a stone step in East Berlin, I was receiving images from somewhere else.
Page 41.
Genocide offered opportunities to acquire wealth: abandoned factories, shops, family properties and furniture.
Page 52.
The damp earth and the cries of small animals and the musky smell of the mushrooms and the taste of him were the sort of life I wanted.
Page 58.
He just stood there by the chair, which forced me to walk towards him. I was terrified because it was proof that I wanted him.
Page 59.
When I at last met Luna, she was upside down.
Page 65.
I was learning to not be myself in the GDR.
Page 66.
The queasy thing about Jennifer Moreau was that she was only in her early twenties but she possessed a sense of purpose that I myself did not possess.
Page 68.
Walter was looking at me. Deep into my eyes. He was always looking at me and I think he could see everything that was good and bad and sad in me.
Page 72.
Her waist was tiny but her voice was huge.
Page 73.
A whisper suggests a secret is being transmitted and encourages the curiosity of others.
Page 75.
‘The personality of the translator has to hide.’
Page 76.
He did not speak spontaneously, certainly not the first thoughts that came to mind. Perhaps he said the third thought that came to mind. It was not a matter of finding a flow but finding a way to stop the flow.
Page 77.
I knew he did not hold my tears against me. That was a big thing to know.
Page 77.
‘He doesn’t care about his own life so he doesn’t care about the lives of others.’
Page 81.
Life is more exciting to live with desire in it.
Page 82.
It was endearing to be given a lecture on blood by a nurse earing imitation Beatle boots, her hair arranged in the style of a prima ballerina.
Pages 85-86.
‘When there is too much to feel, it is better to sing.’
Page 88.
Life is shocking.
Page 115.
It was such hard work being involved with someone like Jennifer Moreau. I was even obliged to entertain her from my sickbed.
Page 117.
My brother and father were insanely rational. They liked pointing their manly fingers in judgement.
Page 124.
To my horror it seemed that my father was a kind man.
Page 128.
I lifted the sheet from my head and stared into her eyes that were no longer the eyes of the woman I used to know. All her beauty that I was not allowed to describe, blown to bits in space and time.
Page 133.
I wanted to die of shame but everyone insisted on keeping me alive.
Page 144.
When I crossed the road that day, I was a man in pieces.
Page 144.
His ears were the listening device hidden inside and outside his head.
Page 169.
I waited for her to speak her life to me. I waited for a long time.
Page 171.
I had no idea how to endure being free. And everything that comes with it.
Page 193.
‘We were young and clueless and 4eckless, but I never stopped loving you.’
Page 197.