John

“They told him that the old warlordism continued but it was no longer correct to speak of ‘armed groups’. Many had merged. Now large armies were fighting each other. Peace was fragmentary – a ceasefire might be negotiated in the north-west”
― Ian McEwan, What We Can Know

“A fit of pointlessness gripped me and I could not move. I was a parasite”
― Ian McEwan, What We Can Know

“The song was originally written in the 1850s to be performed as part of a minstrel show in which white actors dressed up in blackface. Over time”
― Clint Smith, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

“I let that pass and said that three-quarters of species had vanished and I minded. Those creatures and plants were our companions. Without them our loneliness deepened.”
― Ian McEwan, What We Can Know