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121 " For a moment I can’t help thinking how decent he is—that there’s some hope for him beyond the obnoxious image he displays. Maybe deep down he is a sensitive guy, who sees us as real people with real issues. "
― Melina Marchetta , Saving Francesca
122 " But it’s the look in his eyes that I can’t help responding to, and I think to myself, forget the girlfriend. Just go for it. And I want to. But his girlfriend is there, a smiler, not a grinner. "
123 " Get over it, I want to tell myself. He’s just a gawky guy with a cowlick, not some stud. "
124 " I think were made up of all these different pieces an every time someone goes your left with less of yourself. "
125 " She's a dead loss. Has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She's so insipid, she's almost invisible. "
126 " Mia's mother, Nonna Celia, is to blame for that, because she's a prophet of doom. Every time I'd ask her if we could go someplace the next day or next week, her reply would be, "We might not live that long." If I'd say, "See you tomorrow," her answer would be, "If that's what God wants." Leaving so much to fate has kept me an insomniac for most of my life... "
127 " You’re judging her by her literacy,’ Tara says. ‘You’re a literacist. "
128 " my dad goes along with it because no one in my family has ever pretended that my mother doesn’t make all the decisions. "
129 " I want so much not to do the teenage angst thing, but I have to tell you that I hate the life that, according to my mother, I’m not actually having. "
130 " I think we’re made up of all these different pieces and every time someone goes, you’re left with less of yourself. "
131 " At home, at our most vulnerable, she’s Mummy. When we’re talking to other people she’s Mum, but in my head she’s just Mia because I’ve been angry at her so many times that I’ve wanted to distance myself from her. "
132 " We just wanted to have fun. Mia wanted us to change the world. "
133 " Just ask me how I’m feeling,” I want to say. “Just ask and I may tell you.” But no one does. "
134 " It’s kind of like a grief, and it’s not a puzzle that you’re supposed to work out on your own, "
135 " And being that happy makes me feel guilty. Because I shouldn’t be. Not while my mum is feeling the way she is. How I can dare to be happy is beyond me, and I hate my guts for it. I hate myself so much that it makes my head spin. "
136 " And slowly the mornings begin to change. Nothing too friendly or exciting, but by the time I get to school, the sick feeling that I wake up with every morning disappears. Not for long, but enough to get me through the day. "
137 " I have to say it’s a bit traumatic at times, not knowing when the next penis will appear. "
138 " I’ve had it with this waiting business. I can cope with another woman, but I can’t cope with being ignored when there’s nothing in his way. "
139 " I’m sorry,” he says, “for that time I kissed you at that party and for that time at the wedding and more than anything for the thousand times that I wanted to and didn’t have the guts to. "
140 " I am a success at last. We get annihilated. There is no mercy. The word “friendly” is never used in the same context again. “Friendly,” according to The Australian Little Oxford Dictionary, means “acting or disposed to act as friend.” The word “act” is very apt. The girls glare at me. They need to put a face to their misery and I’m it. From then on, whenever someone uses the words “the basketball game,” there is no question which one they are referring to. This "