And to this day . . . there is something illusionistic and illusory about the relationship of time and space as we experience it in traveling . . .
-- Austerlitz (Pages 3 - 58)

Importance: The way that Austerlitz describes his experience of time captures the ways in which his childhood trauma has impacted his experience. Austerlitz has felt dislocated from reality since he left his home in Prague in 1939. Because his memories from before the war are hazy, he lacks a true grounding in any one era or place. This moment therefore contributes to the novel's explorations of history, memory, the past, and displacement.

No one can explain exactly what happens within us when the doors behind which our childhood terrors lurk are flung open.
-- Narrator (Pages 3 - 58)

Importance: While visiting the Breendonk fortress, the narrator is suddenly overcome by a memory from his childhood. He is emotionally overwhelmed by this experience, which inspires his remarks about the ways in which the past intrudes unexpectedly...