“He had deduced also that I was quirky and promised me that he was too.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“I was on the sidewalk, buffering, wondering if it was okay to follow people in real life.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“I had never been tempted to take drugs of any kind and especially not mind-altering ones, but when Mizuko introduced me to… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“I don't want to alarm anyone, but everywhere we go I see Alec Baldwin. It's like he's following us.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“The sharp, superficial pain at being spoken to unkindly had obscured the deeper pain, which had not yet turned into something hard… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“The messages must be stuck somewhere in the tube of light underneath the ocean that connects London and New York.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“Yes,' she said, her nod and smile so American and so misleading. 'You are not supposed to be here—you're supposed to be… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“Waking in the morning, I had to remember grief all over again. It was sunny, a white winter sun, and that made… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“But I can't help thinking of the shock I felt when I finally realised it was winter, on exiting Mizuko's apartment. The… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“But I do not know the people I am crying for anymore. I don't let myself sympathise—I think it would be wrong.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“She was convinced a word existed, a noun, that meant the loss of feelings for someone who was formerly loved—a word for… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“She told me it was unlucky to share a reading with others, but the main point, the one I don't mind mentioning… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“Was this what the city would look like when knowledge was no longer enough? When the desire to turn inward, surrendering entirely… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“And yet how treacherous, I thought, after such neutrality, bordering on indifference, and occaisonally open hostility, when the whole city finally seemed… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“When I read it now it's like I have broken into a reality that is not mine, and when I step out… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“Working out that I am not Mizuko has been an important step towards feeling better. If I have hit on a moral,… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“I know I only want him,' she said between sobs, the syllables all wrong, 'because he doesn't want me . How is… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“I went back to my room and spent all night contemplating whether it was possible in life not to be constantly let… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“My reflections amount to a love story that is mostly made up, from memories that are mostly false, between people who were… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“There was an extravagant winter storm outside. The tinfoil sky flashed beyond the window, rattling in the frame, and once or twice… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“When she did walk, to the bathroom between the chairs and the customers leaning back in them, oblivious to her manoeuvres, the… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“Begin at the beginning. Know nothing. Tabula rasa. At the same time, part of me wanted to distinguish myself. To let her… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“The city is tricky. The highs are so much higher, but in the lows you drop straight down again to bedrock. It… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“I found it hard to write the bits where the things that were at first surprising or even shocking became normal incrementally… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“That night I dreamt about the roses laid at the wrong feet—the feet of the nurse. Each bit of the dream was… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“I hope when this is done I'll be able to get back into my happy gardening vibe that was so healthy for… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“The situation got worse when they came back to her apartment after and someone put on music. An advert interrupted during a… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“It's hard to explain how an infatuation actually starts. It's a state so all-encompassing that it's almost impossible to remember how it… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“Have you ever truly, keenly felt like you don't know who you are? Do you ever do something and think, Who is… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“ Roses are like kamikaze love pilots. Roses are like suicide love bombers. ” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“She hasn't forgotten that I once called that thing she does, with the pins, Pinteresque.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“I watched us without interest, heard us only faintly, like strangers below my window.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share Image
“It was to do with the glazed look that always comes over me when faced with somebody who has offended or hurt me and… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“I was on the sidewalk, buffering, wondering if it was okay to follow people in real life.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“That night I dreamt about the roses laid at the wrong feet—the feet of the nurse. Each bit of the dream was like a… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“I saw a doctor. I went in case there were any remnants of the summer inside me—sticky, slender fish bones that needed to be… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“I felt the nauseous shiver in my stomach—everything from rage to empathy to morning sickness—that I had grown used to and now thought of… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“A neon-pink 3 flickered and instantly disappeared again into the dark. The sight of it on my own device now made me sick. I… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“I felt my own self-sufficiency, my own Walden Pond, seeping out of me as if I'd sprung a leak. Self soaked into everything around… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“ Roses are like kamikaze love pilots. Roses are like suicide love bombers. ” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“Waking in the morning, I had to remember grief all over again. It was sunny, a white winter sun, and that made me sad.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“But you'd hope anyone would feel sympathy if they actually saw someone face to face, pleading for a chance.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“From watching Silvia, I'd learned that one of the worst things about being ill is that most people find your suffering opaque. With this… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“Begin at the beginning. Know nothing. Tabula rasa. At the same time, part of me wanted to distinguish myself. To let her sense the… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“Tokyo was a place you could quite happily exist alone and be self-contained. It seemed to promise that it was better to be by… — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
“It continues to impress me how fluently Americans, even immigrants like her, speak of their achievements.” — Olivia Sudjic Copy Share
