The Haunting of H. G. Wells Quotes

“There are no heroes in that bloodbath. The only difference is, some die standing, and some die cringing. Surely you can see that.”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells

“Humanity needed a lesson in its common origins, its most significant”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells

“Gradually, it had just dissipated, his interest had waned, until one night he had taken the bull by the horns and explained that he was not constitutionally capable of remaining monogamous. He was and would always be attracted to other women, in need of their vitality and freshness, the way that they sparked his curiosity and reinvigorated his imagination. For him sex could even be a purely recreational experience, but one that he was unwilling to give up. “Are you saying that you want to leave me?” she had finally asked, the words barely able to escape her lips. And he had rushed in to make the case—as strongly as he had made the case for his own infidelities—to reassure her that she was his Gibraltar, his lodestar, his boon companion, the one woman on whose judgment he relied, on whose care he counted, and whose affection he most prized. He could no sooner imagine his life without her than he could imagine life on the moon.”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells

“By dawn, the ship was off Le Havre, and by eight thirty, Wells found himself, swaddled in his newly issued greatcoat, following Sergeant Stubb through the chaotic harbor scene. Hieronymus Bosch could not have done it justice—twisting avenues lined by bales of barbed wire the height of houses, teetering mountains of crates and barrels, whinnying horses and skittish mules, a thousand shouting voices, little French boys begging for a cigarette or a bit of the breakfast the swarms of soldiers had just been issued: tins of bully beef, along with a biscuit as hard and thick as a fist.”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells

“Sir William Curzon Wyllie?”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells

“prolix.”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells

“sere”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells

“Hades, however, had been clever. After agreeing to return her to her mother, but just before she had set foot above ground again, he had persuaded Persephone to eat four pomegranate seeds. Because she had done so, she was obligated to return for four months of every year to the underworld—a time when her mother grieves again.” The wreath settled upon her brow like a tiara. “That’s why we have winter,” Machen said, almost”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells

“Rebecca West would not be a passing fancy; she would assume a leading role in his life—he could feel it in his bones—and was he ready for that?”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells

“The problem is, people can’t see what’s right in front of them even now. There’s a veil that stands between us and true reality. I believe that we perceive, with our limited senses, only the slightest portion of all that surrounds us. We’re the proverbial blind men, with groping fingers, trying to feel our way around an elephant and gather some description of it. It is only by means of other avenues—introspection and meditation, ancient rites and hypnagogic states—that we can access otherwise underutilized parts of the mind—”
― Robert Masello, The Haunting of H. G. Wells