“Who do you think's after you, Shane, my lad? Or is it just the dark you're afeared of?”

“The riot had taken on a beauty of its own now. Arcs of gasoline fire under the crescent moon. Crimson tracer in mystical parabolas. Phosphorescence from the barrels of plastic bullet guns. A distan...”

“Human beings are pattern-seeking animals. It's part of our DNA. That's why conspiracy theories and gods are so popular: we always look for the wider, bigger explanations for things.”

“With gas cookers and chip pans in every kitchen, the chip-pan fire was by far the most popular method these Proddies had for burning their houses down. The second technique was the ever popular chi...”

“He was one of those characters who felt that a weak handshake could somehow damage his authority, which meant that every handshake had to bloody hurt.”

“We are on strike, we, the men of the mind.We are on strike against self-immolation. We are on strike against the creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties. We are on strike against the dogma ...”

“If only it were possible to love without injury fidelity isnt enough: I had been faithful to Anne and yet I had injured her. The hurt is in the act of possession: we are too small in mind and body...”

“She looks at the swings, and I can see shes imagining what theyd look like if the kids werent there. The guilt of this holds her down momentarily. It appears to be there constantly. Never far away,...”

“The tune was sad, as the best of Ireland was, melancholy and lovely as a lover's tears.”

“World is suddener than we fancy it.”

“Take that rage, put it on a page, take the page to the stage, blow the roof off the place.”

“For you can't hear Irish tunes without knowing you're Irish, and wanting to pound that fact into the floor.”

“Lunch looks grand, Meg. Youve really outdone yourself, James commented, loading his plate. He frowned down at an escaping carrot extending precariously over the plate edge andeased it back with his...”

“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.”