Date: 1997

"And as soon as he sees him, he knows that this boy will be important to him, important beyond all measure, not because of who he is (he may never see him again) but because of the thoughts that are going on in his head, that burst out of him like a swarm of bees."

— Coetzee, J. M. (b. 1940)

Date: 1997

"Nevertheless, the memory lies like a weight upon him, the memory of the soft resistance of flesh and bone, and then the grinding"

— Coetzee, J. M. (b. 1940)

Date: 1997

"He does not want to know. So much does he not want to know that he can feel a hand go up inside his own head to block his ears, block his sight."

— Coetzee, J. M. (b. 1940)

Date: 2000

"Emotions, atavisms, would be set aside, while reason -- the nabob of all faculties -- went about its work."

— Amis, Martin (b. 1949)