--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Robbie and Cecilia had been making love…" description: "\"“Robbie and Cecilia had been making love for years - by post. In their coded exchanges they had drawn close, but how artificial that closeness seemed n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/ian-mcewan-494_closeness_robbie-and-cecilia-had-been-making-love_1218544.jpg" --- # Robbie and Cecilia had been making love for years - by… ![“Robbie and Cecilia had been making love for years - by post. In their coded exchanges they had drawn close, but how artificial that closeness seemed now as they embarked on their small talk, their helpless catechism of polite query and response. As the distance opened up between them, they…” quote by Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/ian-mcewan-494_closeness_robbie-and-cecilia-had-been-making-love_1218544.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/ian-mcewan-494_closeness_robbie-and-cecilia-had-been-making-love_1218544.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/ian-mcewan-494_closeness_robbie-and-cecilia-had-been-making-love_1218544.jpg) > ““Robbie and Cecilia had been making love for years - by post. In their coded exchanges they had drawn close, but how artificial that closeness seemed now as they embarked on their small talk, their helpless catechism of polite query and response. As the distance opened up between them, they understood how far they had run ahead of themselves in their letters. This moment had been imagined and desired for too long, and could not measure up.”” [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Letters created an imagined intimacy that collapses when real conversation reveals the distance between expectation and reality. **In simple terms:** Imagined closeness fades in real talk. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of imagined connections. Themes communication expectation intimacy disillusionment Mood melancholic thoughtful Type literary reflective When to use this quote - online dating - long‑distance relationships - friendship - creative writing Key Concepts literature psychology relationship dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What expectations do you bring to new relationships? - How can you bridge imagined and real intimacy? A Different Perspective Real interaction may never match fantasy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Closeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/closeness/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Small talk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-talk/) ## Related quotes > [“...in the blank spaces between the letters. In the moment when a note of music ends and the next one has not yet begun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/in-the-blank-spaces-between-the-letters-in-the-moment-when-a-note-of/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Analyzing data from 79 men and women who wore inconspicuous devices that recorded some of their conversations over the course of four days, researchers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meghan-daum/analyzing-data-from-79-men-and-women-who-wore-inconspicuous-devices/) [Meghan Daum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meghan-daum/) > [What keeps faith cheerful is the extreme persistence of gentleness and humor. 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My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. 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