Brilliant Prose

The nothings, the nobodies/ Anthony Doerr

The nothings, the nobodies/ Anthony Doerr

“There are two kinds of death,” he says, the clouds of his breath plunging out into the cold. “You can fight like a lion. Or you can go as easy as lifting a hair from a cup of milk. The nothings, the nobodies—they die easy.”

He hated going bald and old/ Douglas Stuart

He hated going bald and old/ Douglas Stuart

He hated going bald, hated getting old; it made everything hard work. He adjusted the mirror lower so that he couldn’t see the reflection of his bare head. He found his long, thick moustache and sat absent-mindedly stroking it, like a favourite pet. Under it his spare chin wobbled. He tilted the mirror back up. The Glasgow streets were shiny with rain and street lights.