erik

i'll start with one of my favorite characters; rinaldi. i liked the dynamic between him and henry because it seems bro-y and jokey but also sentimental. it's the kind of relationship that could be formed when you share a room with someone in wartime.

"Look, baby, this is your old tooth brushing glass. I kept it all the time to remind me of you... I kept this to remind me of you trying to brush away the Villa Rosa from your teeth in the morning, swearing and eating asprin and cursing harlots. Every time I see that glass I think of you trying to clean your consience with a toothbrush."

the book itself seemed very disillusioned with war and the idea of it. i think it was even banned in some countries because of its anti-war and anti-nationalist semtiments. the quote reminded me of a movie, all quiet on the western front, where you follow the character's life right before and during ww1. the reality of war will sour any illusions of it.

"Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene beside the concrete names of villages, the number of roads, the names of rivers, the number of regiments and the dates."

i just liked this one.

"If you ever live to be as old as I am you will find many things strange."
"You never seem old."
"It is the body that is old... And the spirit is no older and not much wiser."
"You are wise."
"No, that is the great fallacy; the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful."

the character catherine, my favorite of the book, said this and it stuck with me.

"Nothing ever happens to the brave."
"They die of course."
"But only once."
"Who said that?"
"The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one?"
"Who said it?"
"I don't know."
"He knew a great deal about cowards but nothing of the brave. The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths... He simply doesn't mention them."

those who are brave enough to try often fail and failure could be considered a death of sorts. death gives birth to life; failure teaches lessons. when we succeed people forget or just don't know how many times we've failed before.