jbluestein
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Jason wrote:
Isa jokesum. Yousum don't understazum? Nevermindz.

I figured it was a joke...I just didn't follow it. Sorry.

Josh

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"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Snacko
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"A teenage boy decides to tour New York rather than returning home to face his parent's anger after getting expelled from school. He comes to terms with his own immaturity and his annoyed view of the world around him".

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Director of the Department of Orderly Disruptions

jbluestein
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'And now,' said the stranger, 'farewell, goodness, humanity, gratitude...Farewell all those feelings that nourish and illuminate the heart! I have taken the place of Providence to reward the good; now let the avenging God make way for me to punish the wrongdoer!'



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"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

jbluestein
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Is this too obscure? I figured the quote would be sufficient, but maybe it doesn't work as well taken out of context? Problem is that I don't have the original text -- this is just a translation.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

calamarain
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It's not the Bible is it?

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Snacko
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I believe is from The Dawn-Breakers.

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jbluestein
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No, and no. I'll offer two more clues:

1) The original language is French.

2) A second quote:

Then, turning back to the prisoner, he said: 'Tell me briefly, what do you want?'
'I want to know what crime I have committed, I am asking for judges to be appointed to my case and for a trial to be held; finally, I am asking to be shot, if I am guilty; but equally to be set free if I am innocent.'

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

NiroZ
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That wouldn't be "The Count Of Monte Cristo" would it?

jbluestein
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NiroZ wrote:
That wouldn't be "The Count Of Monte Cristo" would it?

It would be. Welcome to 800!

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

NiroZ
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How quickly it had all been done! He felt strangely calm, and, walking over to the window, opened it, and stepped out on the balcony. The wind had blown the fog away, and the sky was like a monstrous peacock's tail, starred with myriads of golden eyes. He looked down, and saw the policemen going his rounds and flashing the long beam of his lantern on the doors of the silent houses. The crimson spot of a prowling hansom gleamed at the corner, and then vanished. A woman in a fluttering shawl was creeping slowly by the railings, staggering as she went. Now and then she stopped, and peered back. Once, she began to sign in a hoarse voice. The policeman strolled over and said something to her. She stumbled away, laughing. A bitter blast swept across the Square. The gas-lamps flickered, and became blue, and the leafless teees shook their black iron branches to and fro. He shivered, and went back, closing the window behind him.

NiroZ
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Hmmm, maybe I'll pick something a little more obvious

When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was.

calamarain
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NiroZ wrote:
Hmmm, maybe I'll pick something a little more obvious

When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall a splendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all the wonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

I love that book

My quote... (nice easy one)

Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy

____________________________
My Holds

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[Last edited by calamarain at 10-13-2007 04:36 AM]

NiroZ
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I knew it was a dead giveaway. I also had a sneaking suspicion you would get it.

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[Last edited by NiroZ at 10-13-2007 03:55 PM]

Alneyan
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calamarain wrote:
Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy

I'd be willing to bet good money that it's from Discworld, but I have no idea which particular book... Reaper Man maybe?

calamarain
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A second one from the same book...

When you were grown up you only feared, well, logical things. Poverty. Illness. Being found out. At least you weren't mad with terror because of something under the stairs. The world wasn't full of arbitrary light and shade. The wonderful world of childhood? Well, it wasn't a cut-down version of the adult one, that was certain. It was more like the adult one written in big heavy letters. Everything was... more. More everything.

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BeefontheBone
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The first quote was Death, methinks. Fairly sure that's The Hogfather - that has lots of Susan, bogeymen and childhood.

____________________________
Braindead's Mordor Site - Dungeon crawling having nothing whatsoever to do with LotR. Plus a freeware remake in-progress, featuring descriptive text written by yours truly!

Beef Row wrote: Actually, it doesn't really matter because the soap is a lye.

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[Last edited by BeefontheBone at 10-13-2007 08:02 PM]

calamarain
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BeefontheBone wrote:
The first quote was Death, methinks. Fairly sure that's The Hogfather - that has lots of Susan, bogeymen and childhood.

Correct. Your turn

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BeefontheBone
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This will be really easy if you've read it, and baffling otherwise - hopefully somebody has

"Rita fell down the stairs at twenty-two minutes past midnight on New Year's Day.

I had hoped for a better start to my diary - perhaps a poem glorifying the act of diarying, or a quote from a famous diarist, such as Shakespeare ('Wroteth another play today...'), but writing a diary is all about recording what actually happens. And sadly at 12.22, what actually happened was Rita falling down the stairs.

...

Rita and her ankle have never got on. Last year we made a succession of ankle-related visits to the hospital."

____________________________
Braindead's Mordor Site - Dungeon crawling having nothing whatsoever to do with LotR. Plus a freeware remake in-progress, featuring descriptive text written by yours truly!

Beef Row wrote: Actually, it doesn't really matter because the soap is a lye.

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[Last edited by BeefontheBone at 10-14-2007 01:00 AM]

noma
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That would be from "The Timewaster Diaries" by Robin Cooper.

BeefontheBone
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Yay! Not quite as genius as the letters (and Confessions of a Chatroom Freak gets old pretty quick, unfortunately) but hilarious nonetheless. Anyone who has the faintest idea who Robert Popper is should definitely check out the Timewaster Diaries.

____________________________
Braindead's Mordor Site - Dungeon crawling having nothing whatsoever to do with LotR. Plus a freeware remake in-progress, featuring descriptive text written by yours truly!

Beef Row wrote: Actually, it doesn't really matter because the soap is a lye.

noma
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"When my tale began, it appeared that the earthling part of the clockwork of the universe was in terrible danger, since many of its parts, which is to say people, no longer fit in anywhere, and were damaging all the parts around them as well as themselves. I would have said back then that the damage was beyond repair.
Not so!
Thanks to certain modifications in the design of human beings, I see no reason why the earthing part of the clockwork can't go on ticking forever the way it is ticking now."

kzc
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I haven't read it, but it sounds like this could be Mainspring.

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[Last edited by kzc at 10-17-2007 07:35 PM]

noma
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No, not Mainspring.

"What Mandarax didn't tell her, and what her big brain certainly wasn't going to tell her, was that, if she came up with an idea for a novel experiment which had a chance of working, her big brain would make her life a hell until she had actually performed that experiment.

That, in my opinion, was the most diabolical aspects of those old-time big brains: They would tell their owners, in effect, "Here is a crazy thing we could actually do, probably, but we would never do it, of course. It's just fun to think about."

And then, as though in trances, the people would really do it--"

noma
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Hmm. A little googling would get this for you. If Erik only read this forum, I think he'd get it. One more, a little more obvious.

"There had been concern about the genes the mother, Hisako, might have passed on to her fetus, since herr own mother had been exposed to radiation when the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. So a sample of Hisako's amniotic fluid was tested back in Tokyo for clues that the child might be abnormal. ...

The tests declared the fetus normal.
They also gave away the secret of its sex. It would come into the world as a little girl, yet another female in this tale.

The tests were incapable of detecting minor defects in the fetus, such as that it might be as tone deaf as Mary Hepburn, which it wasn't -- or that it might be covered with a fine, silky pelt like a fur seal's, which would actually turn out to be the case."

Tahnan
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I did get it from Googling, but didn't feel good about posting after that, especially since I really ought to have recognized the author from his writing style.

Znirk
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noma wrote:
Hmm. A little googling would get this for you. If Erik only read this forum, I think he'd get it. One more, a little more obvious.

"There had been concern about the genes the mother, Hisako, might have passed on to her fetus, since herr own mother had been exposed to radiation when the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. So a sample of Hisako's amniotic fluid was tested back in Tokyo for clues that the child might be abnormal. ...

The tests declared the fetus normal.
They also gave away the secret of its sex. It would come into the world as a little girl, yet another female in this tale.

The tests were incapable of detecting minor defects in the fetus, such as that it might be as tone deaf as Mary Hepburn, which it wasn't -- or that it might be covered with a fine, silky pelt like a fur seal's, which would actually turn out to be the case."

Ooooh. Galápagos, by Kurt Vonnegut.

noma
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You are correct. Love this book. Love Vonnegut.

Your turn.

Znirk
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OK. Semi-randomly reaching into the English-language section of the shelf behind me ...

Heh. OK, let's try this.

28-JUL-1992 08:23 FROM: Onslow Interiors Ltd. TO: 0653 378552 P. 01 of 01

Onslow Interiors
12a Onslow Terrace - South Kensington - London SW7

URGENT FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION

To: Patricia Hardy, c/o Logan, Swafford Hall, Norfolk
From: Onslow Interiors Ltd.
My fax: 071-555 4929
Your fax: 0653-378552

For the private and personal attention of Miss Hardy

Dear Miss Hardy,

You suggest in your letter that you might consider making an approach to E.L.W. to raise the question of his recent remarks on the subject we discussed.

We would recommend with extreme force that you do not make such a move. T. is not an expert in this field and has no knowledge of the details.

I trust this warning has come in time to save you from making an unfortunate mistake.

Unable for the moment to join you or meeting as suggested.

Letter follows

Yours


J.S.

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[Last edited by Znirk at 10-22-2007 10:14 PM : minor typoage corrected]

Znirk
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Anyone? Here's the next page, which should make things a bit clearer if you know the book.

28-09-1992 09:57 LOGANGROUP plc TO: 071 555 4929 Page 001
LOGANGROUP plc

To.............................Jane Swann
Company..................Onslow Interiors
Fax No. .....................071 555 4929
From.............................Patricia
Fax No. ......................0653 378552
Page...............................1 of 1

Jane,

Bother! If your fax means what I think it means, then I've screwed up.  Gave
Ted an earful yesterday.  Called him a foul and ugly old wart-hog.  Hard to
take those kind of words back but I had a go just now in the breakfast room.

I told him that I've been behaving irrationally on account of Martin leaving
me and that I had had a go at him because I thought he had been having a go
at me.  Think he swallowed it.  He leered what he imagines is a debonair
smile and started dripping egg-yolk down his shirt, which I think is a sign
of forgiveness.

You really should have warned me though. Does he really not know what's going
on?  And why are you concerned with what he thinks or believes anyway?  He's
not here on a commission from a newspaper is he?  The mind boggles.  Come
to think of it, Michael announced last night that Ted is writing his biography.
They've been closeted together for hours and hours.  What's that all about?

Wildest apologies, do come down soonest

Pat

If you encounter any difficulties with this transmission, please call Valerie Myers on 0653 378551

calamarain
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Ahah!

I know that one. Stephen Fry's "The Hippopotamus".

I'm currently at work, so I'll post a new entry to this thread when I get home and have access to my books.

____________________________
My Holds

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[Last edited by calamarain at 10-23-2007 12:12 PM]