The Closed Circle Quotes

“Yes - I've learned from my mistakes, and I'm sure I could repeat them perfectly.”
― Jonathan Coe, The Closed Circle

“It had been almost 7 o'clock, the end of a long working day. Of course he should've been at home with Emily by then, but that evening - as on many other evenings - he had told her that he needed to work late, not so that he could slip away and spend a few hours with his mistress (Benjamin would never have a mistress), but so that he could snatch 30 minutes solitude alone with a book and his thoughts before coming home to the deeper, more oppressive solitude of his shared domestic life.”
― Jonathan Coe, The Closed Circle

“I never expected Benjamin and Emily to last that long I have to say. I suppose in a way it makes sense. Benjamin would always find it hard to split up with anyone because he hates difficulty, he hates confrontation. Anything for a quiet life is his unspoken motto, and I imagine life with Emily must be very quiet indeed. But really they are not well-suited. Benjamin always struck me as rather a self-centred person. I don't mean that he's greedy or consciously unkind, I mean that he has a strong sense of self, a good sense of self, and he doesn't really need anybody's company other than his own. He's not very giving of himself, that's for sure.”
― Jonathan Coe, The Closed Circle

“The loneliness of the single woman. Too much time, not enough company. What was I gonna do? I had a sandwich and something to drink at a pub on the Worcester Road and in the afternoon I went for a walk along the hills. It calmed me, cleared my head. Perhaps I'm someone who only feels happy inside herself when she's halfway up a hill? Certainly I seem to have spent a lot of time these last few weeks climbing up to different vantage points. Maybe I'm at a point in my life where I need that Olympian perspective?”
― Jonathan Coe, The Closed Circle

“For many weeks after [my wife] died, I could not get used to the feeling of coldness and lifelessness on her side of the bed - and it was even worse when they took the body away and buried her.”
― Jonathan Coe, The Closed Circle