The sounds, smells and tactile sensations that a camera cannot capture in any case were impressed on my ears, nose, face and hands. There was not yet a knife between me and the world, so at the time this was enough.”
-- The Greek Teacher (chapter 1)

Importance: In the opening chapter of the novel, the unnamed Greek teacher discusses the epitaph of the legendary writer Jorge Luis Borges. He proposes that the blade in Borges’ epitaph connotes the spiritual separation between Borges and the world; this separation foreshadows that with which the Greek teacher struggles as he grows blind.

Even the most nondescript phrase outlined completeness and incompleteness, truth and lies, beauty and ugliness, with the cold clarity of ice.
-- The Unnamed Woman (chapter 2)

Importance: Early in the novel, the unnamed woman discusses her childhood relationship with language. From an early age, language deeply affects the woman. In “even the most nondescript phrase” (11), the woman senses the stirrings of a great...