Quotes from Ian McEwan, Atonement

He knew these last lines by heart and mouthed them now in the darkness. My reason for life. Not living, but life. That was the touch. And she was his reason for life, and why he must survive.

The cost of oblivious daydreaming was always this moment of return, the realignment with what had been before and now seemed a little worse.

And though you think the world is at your feet, it can rise up and tread on you.

Waiting. Simply one person doing nothing, over time, while another approached.

We go on our hands and knees and crawl our way towards the truth

She knew enough to recognize that memories were crowding in, and there was nothing he could do. They wouldn't let him speak. She would never know what scenes were driving that turmoil.