The House of the Spirits
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Important Quotations Explained
1. Barrabas
came to us by sea, the child Clara wrote in her delicate
calligraphy. She was already in the habit of writing down important
matters, and afterward, when she was mute, she also recorded trivialities,
never suspecting that fifty years later I would use her notebooks
to reclaim the past and overcome terrors of my own.
2. At birth
Rosa was white and smooth, without a wrinkle, like a porcelain doll,
with green hair and yellow eyes—the most beautiful creature to be
born on earth since the days of original sin, as the midwife put
it, making the sign of the cross.
3. He could
hardly guess that the solemn, cubic, dense, pompous house, which
sat like a hat amidst its green and geometric surroundings, would
end up full of protuberances and incrustations, of twisted staircases
that led to empty spaces, of turrets, or small windows and could not
be opened, doors hanging in midair, crooked hallways, and portholes
that linked the living quarters so that people could communicate
during the siesta, all of which were Clara's inspiration.
4. "I set
my curse on you, Esteban!" Ferula shouted back. "You will always
be alone! Your body and soul will shrivel up and you'll die like
a dog!"
5. Alba did
not see Esteban Garcia again until he was standing next to her in
the university parking lot, but she could never forget him. She
told no one of that repulsive kiss or of the dreams that she had
afterward, in which Garcia appeared as a green beast that tried
to strangle her with his paws and asphyxiate her by shoving a slimy
tentacle down her throat.
