Dan’s Reviews > The Spear Cuts Through Water > Status Update

“Judge not the parent who keeps silent to their child’s cry. There are too many reasons in heaven and earth to disappoint the ones we care for.”

“And so he laid down that night by the dying fire with little thought as the inner workings of his body-the chemistry of the equipment inheritance that began as the acids of a stomach method, narrow and potent flesh of a God”

“If only there were a way to prolong the inevitable. If only there were a way to hold a moment in your hands and keep it alive forever.”

“‘Do you get nervous before a battle?’ Jun asked…’Yes,’ Keema said. ‘I get nervous.’ Jun chuckled. ‘Why is that funny?’ Keema asked…’Fear is not something my brothers would ever admit to. I’ve never met any warrior who would admit to such weakness.’ ‘It’s not a weakness,’ Keema said. ‘Oh?’ ‘Fear keeps you alive.’”

“A peacock amongst its ostentation is mighty, but a peacock alone will be torn apart by those he once hunted”

“But none of them said anything, just as you had said nothing when your own father had left, for there are moments in this life that speak clearly for themselves.”

“Father’s leave in all sorts of ways. Some of them leave in the dark. Some leave only in their heads, while their bodies remain, staring at the world around them forever distantly. Others fade out overtime, like an old photo rubbed raw.”

“…being a good leader was simply a matter of not expressing how you truly feel.”

“And when later, I was discovered, like the discarded toy, I was, a guard, sympathetic to my state, brought me to my lover, who, with trembling hands held me to their breast before I then breathe my last, and returned to the Sleeping sea, wingless, and free.”

“Her words forever married to the musk of her cigarette and her bone-rattling laughter; so much so that whenever you think of that place, long ago and far away, you cannot help but think of smoke and death.”