I gave my this book 5 stars on Goodreads, which is very unusual for me.
"...I thought that if I made the broadcast powerful enough, my brother would hear me. That I could bring him some peace, protect him as he had always protected me."
"You'd play your brother's own voice to him? After he died?" page 161
How do you ever know for certain that you are doing the right thing?
There is pride, too, though - pride that he has done it alone. That his daughter is so curious, so resilient. There is the humility of being a father to someone so powerful, as if he were only a narrow conduit for another, greater thing. That's how it feels right now, he thinks, kneeling beside her rinsing her hair: as though his love for his daughter will outstrip the limits of his body. The walls could fall away, even the whole city, and the brightness of that feeling would not wane. page 189
See obstacles as opportunities....See obstacles as inspirations. page 290
"When I lost my sight , Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same?" page 469
The window glows. The slow sandy light of dawn permeates the room. Everything transient and aching; everything tentative. To be here, in this room, high in this house, out of the cellar, with her: it is like medicine. page 470
He thinks of the old broken miners he'd see in Zollverein, sitting in chairs or on crates, not moving for hours, waiting to die. To men like that, time was a surfeit, a barrel they watched slowly drain. When really he thinks, it's a glowing puddle you carry in your hands; you should spend all your energy protecting it. Fighting for it. Working so hard not to spill one single drop. page 476
He lingers over images of Marie-Laure - her hands, her hair - even as he worries that to concentrate on them too long is to risk wearing them out. page 479
It is the obliviousness of our children that saves us. page 516
