6
" Women always leave their men – even if their relationship seems to last a lifetime. Men can be unfaithful and restless in the short-term, but then they become docile, dutiful, and very, very dull. But there is longing in the souls of women that deepens with time. Men can’t reach it, or barely even conceive of it, and after many years together, a woman may find herself as far from the man she shares a bed with as from a stranger. It’s only when you look deep inside, to the source of tears, to find true shelter from the eyes of the world, that a woman may discover the demons she wishes to fight and the ecstasy in which she would wrap herself. What part can any man hope to play in something as profound as that? "
― Mark Crutchfield , Earthwork
14
" Ten years before, Ben's fear of a predictable future, the trappings of domestic routine, his hatred of authority and unthinking conformity, and an arrogant certainty in the imminence, benefits and permanence of a socialist revolution had been just a few of his reasons for leaving the village of his birth. Now, standing less than a mile from the 'Please Drive Safely Through Our Village' sign, Ben would have to admit that a need to rediscover those feelings was the reason for his return. He had always considered nostalgia the nemesis of rebellion: a process better at fossilising worthy tracts of his past than preserving them. And yet, as his thirtieth birthday approached, he was shocked to realise that nostalgia was the only thing keeping those feelings alive. "
― Mark Crutchfield , Earthwork
