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0633ab0
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People don't want the truth,' he says, waving a hand at the streets around us. 'They want better-quality lies. High definition lies on fifty-inch screens.
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lies
modernity
truth
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Paul Murray |
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442c10f
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I'm just saying that once that have an excuse, people will do anything. They do what they are told, and they take their money and they think it's all okay because it's just their job, while their real self is what happens after work, when they're bouncing a baby on the knee, or writing poems about snowflakes or whatever.
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morals
professional-life
work
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Paul Murray |
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bb8700d
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Ariadne made an impression on you, and that's great. But life is not literature. Sooner or later, the spell wears off, the romantic feelings disappear, and you're left watching somebody's body disintegrate. You start with a love story, you end up manacled to an hourglass, watching the sands run out.
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love
marriage
relationships
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Paul Murray |
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4e17ef3
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As Richard mounted his horse to follow, some of his Household protested that he must not wear into battle the helmet with the golden crown, for it would mark him as the prime target for the enemy. Quietly Richard replied that he would live, and die, King of England.
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richard-iii
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Paul Murray Kendall |
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fdc5781
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St Thomas, in his commentary on Psalm 16, writes: `When God examines, he does three things, namely, he tests, he visits, he examines.''`' What is more, as a result of this testing, as soon as God finds that an individual possesses a certain integrity, there begins the deeper testing, the more searching examination. Thomas cites Jer. 17.10: I, the Lord, search the heart and probe the loins. I give everyone according to his way.20 Finding one..
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Paul Murray |
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974a475
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Capitalism needs war.
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cynicism
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Paul Murray |
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5bc4924
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It used to be the smartest people didn't always want to be the richest people.
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philistines
values
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Paul Murray |
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649bca2
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The accursed ship didn't sink for a full three hours. By the time it did, I was feeling so traumatized that even watching Dogface die offered little consolation. The dialogue, the acting, the vast emptiness of the whole endeavour! Was that what passed for cinema these days? I felt like I have been violated; violated by a team of accountants.
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Paul Murray |
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6fd4db3
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The stories we read in books, what's presented to us as being interesting - they have very little to do with real life as it's lived today. I'm not talking about straight-up escapism, your vampires, serial killers, codes hidden in paintings, and so on. I mean so-called serious literature. A boy goes hunting with his emotionally volatile father, a bereaved woman befriends an asylum seeker, a composer with a rare neurological disorder walks a..
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literature
meaning
modern-life
modernity
novels
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Paul Murray |
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cd627ee
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This is the way they live now, like two actors in the final performances of a show no one comes to see anymore.
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Paul Murray |
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c58ffe5
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I do not think my life would make a very interesting book,' I say. 'I feel I can speak with a certain amount of authority here.
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humor
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Paul Murray |
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a06d347
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Lack is the last great gold rush, Claude. The world is poor and getting poorer. But we can turn that to our advantage. When someone's got nothing, does he care how much debt he gets into? When he's walled in and someone offers him a way out, does he stop to read the small print?
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Paul Murray |
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a4455c7
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It was like sending a dog to review Cats.
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Paul Murray |
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043d26e
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Non-teenagers might find his appeal difficult to understand, as he isn't especially handsome, or big, or even funny; his features are striking only in their regularity, the overall effect being one of solidity, steadiness, the quiet self-assurance one might associate with, for instance, a long-established and successful bank. But that, in fact, is the whole point. One look at Titch, in his regulation Dubarrys, Ireland jersey and freshly top..
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Paul Murray |
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a53d451
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Why would love bow to the reality of things, when it creates a reality of its own, so much more vivid, wherein everything resonates to the key of the heart?
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Paul Murray |
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1f287da
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It gives the war a whole new dimension, you know, hearing from someone right there in the thick of it. They really connected with it.' 'Maybe it reminds them of school,' she suggests. 'Didn't someone describe the trenches as ninety-nine per cent boredom and one per cent terror?' 'I don't know about boredom. God, the chaos of it, the brutality. And it's so vivid. I'd definitely be interested in reading his poetry, if only to see how he can g..
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love
poetry
war
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Paul Murray |
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93b88e6
|
But the class has already fizzed away, and Howard is left as he always is, wondering if anyone has been listening to a single thing he's said; he can practically see his words crumpled up on the floor.
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Paul Murray |
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99b3fec
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Her sister tells her she's depressed. 'Worrying that you're turning into Mom is like the textbook definition of depression. The depression textbooks all have pictures of our mom in them. Quit that fucking job, already. I don't understand why you don't.
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Paul Murray |
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8361041
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She pulls a face and mutters something. 'Seriously, though, why don't you?' 'Oh, for Christ's sake - I don't know, Howard. Maybe this is all I'm good for. Maybe office equipment is all there is to write about.' He withdraws his hand, exasperated. 'Well, if you won't do anything about it, then you've got to stop complaining.' 'I'm not complaining, if you ever actually listened to what I -' 'I do listen, that's the problem, I'm listening all ..
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Paul Murray |
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9010b73
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Es geht darum, dass [...] die Menschen immer irgendwohin gehen. Dass alle immer nicht da sein wollen, wo sie sind. [...] Oder dass sie anders sein wollen. [...] Sie sind so damit beschaftigt, irgendwo anders hinzukommen, dass sie gar nicht die Welt sehen, in der sie sind. [...] Statt nach Wegen aus unserem Leben heraus zu suchen, sollten wir lieber nach Wegen in das Leben hinein suchen.
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Paul Murray |
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5adf3a9
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Letztendlich sind es ja doch unsere eigenen Erwartungen, an denen wir zugrunde gehen.
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Paul Murray |
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f4ca5ea
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Die Grundstruktur des Universums ist so beschaffen, dass sich die Dinge nie ausgleichen. Der Toast fallt mit der Butterseite auf den Boden. Intelligente Schuler werden gemobbt, statt dass man sie als die zukunftigen fuhrenden Kopfe der Gesellschaft respektiert. Du kriegst nicht, was du willst, aber jemand anderes, der es gar nicht will, hat es in rauen Mengen. Asymmetrie. Wo man auch hinschaut.
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Paul Murray |
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5647b67
|
Next!' The judgement issues summarily from the review panel before Sexecutioner has even a chance to drop his first motherfucker. For a moment, the boys remain rooted to the spot in ungangsta-like attitudes of woundedness, mocked by the drumbeat that is still thumping around them; then, unplugging the ghettoblaster, they clamber down and make the walk of shame to the exit. 'What in God's name was that?' the Automator says as soon as they ha..
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Paul Murray |
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779c1c6
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A tiny number of very rich people, including fat cat bankers like us, are sucking up a bigger and bigger percentage of the wealth. And that gap will continue to widen, because with all our extra capital we go and buy up all the assets, so that for instance when Chang working down there in Spar needs somewhere to live, he has to rent his house from me, meaning that I'm getting most of his wages too. Now, provided you're me and not Chang, tha..
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Paul Murray |
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8afaee6
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Outside, the sirens go whirling off in another direction, leaving only the sky stretched over the houses, the lonely beautiful universe, a sad song played on a broken instrument. She wonders if Skippy did hear them tonight. Ruprecht told her that even though you can't see strings, scientists believed the theory was true because it was the most beautiful explanation. So, Skippy heard their song, that would be the beautiful explanation, would..
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Paul Murray |
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3c8573d
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By hoarding images, we seek to conquer time. Of course, we do not mistake a photograph in a frame or on a screen for the reality as it was. Nevertheless, as Barthes has written, the photograph makes an assertion, and it makes it in a particular mode - what the Greeks called the Aorist, a form of the past tense that is never actually completed but seems to go on indefinitely. Thus, the picture presents us with the past as a continuum which f..
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Paul Murray |
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412474d
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Mrs. P.? Oh no. She's the help. Bosnian, you know. Or is it Serbian? An absolute treasure, anyway. As I always say to Bel, if there's one good thing to come out of all this fuss in the Balkans, it's the availability of quality staff . . ." The words died away on my lips: once again I found myself trailing off in the stare of those unblinking eyes. This fellow was like some kind of after-dinner black hole. My anxiety began to mount again." ..
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current-events
ignorant
self-absorbed
small-talk
wealth
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Paul Murray |
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72c1250
|
When he gets up he spends an hour kicking and stamping on his French horn so he will not have to play it again. Music, maths, these are things that no longer make any sense to him. They are too perfect, they do not belong here. He does not khow how he ever believed this universe could be a symphony played on super-strings, when it sounds like shit, played on shit.
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Paul Murray |
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64c9dd3
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According to string theory, which Professor Tamashi and other scientists have been using to try to solve the Big Bang, in addition to the four dimensions of spacetime we know, there are six of these very small, curled-up dimensions, making ten all told. And the strings, which are little strands of energy, wiggle around vibrating in these ten dimensions.' 'Like Dennis's mother,' Mario, seeking vengeance for the ant slur, interjects, 'wigglin..
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Paul Murray |
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176592e
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The first time Halley set eyes on Howard was at a showing of The Towering Inferno. When she heard about him, her sister had wondered aloud how much of a future you could have with someone you'd met at a disaster movie. But at that point Halley wasn't feeling picky. She had been in Dublin just over three weeks - not so long that she didn't still get lost all the time on the infuriating streets that kept changing their names, but enough to di..
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Paul Murray |
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528a77c
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Dennis and Mario, meanwhile, have fallen behind to debate the merits and demerits of Mario's new phone. 'The thing you don't understand about this phone is that it's state of the art, which means, this is the best phone you can get.' 'I do understand that, you moron, I'm saying what's the point of having a state-of-the-art phone when everyone who's going to call you on it is living six feet away from you?' 'I think what it is, is, you are j..
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Paul Murray |
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1ea9278
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Diablos: the name given to the igniting of, and ignited, farts. Trevor Hickey is the undisputed master of this arcane and perilous art. The stakes could not be higher. Get the timing even slightly wrong and there will be consequences far more serious than singed trousers; the word backdraught clamours unspoken at the back of every spectator's mind. Total silence now as, with an almost imperceptible tremble (entirely artificial, 'just part o..
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Paul Murray |
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278db61
|
I'll saw my hands off before I appear on stage with you and your Orchestra of Gays!' Dennis bellows. 'Do you hear me? I'll saw my hands off!
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Paul Murray |
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841cc3a
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Goodbye, Earth! So long, you piece of crap, except for Italy.
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Paul Murray |
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920227e
|
I don't know what just happened here. But all those things I said before, about how you were a big fat fake and a liar, and your portal was a piece of crap that couldn't heat a bowl of soup, and you were gay and all scientists were gay?' 'Yes.' 'Well... I was wrong. I'm sorry.
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Paul Murray |
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9fcdbdc
|
Okay, so one night a couple of weeks ago - it would have been about the same time as the Hop, I suppose - Niall's sister and her friend are down in their room, rehearsing. They get quite caught up in what they're doing and they end up staying down longer than they planned.' 'This friend, is she hot?' Mario puts in. 'I have seen Niall's sister, thanks but no thanks - however, how about the friend?' 'I haven't met her,' Dennis says. 'It doesn..
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Paul Murray |
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46dcb35
|
She never came back after mid-term break; according to the Automator, 'unforeseen circumstances' had forced her to extend her holiday. Every day Howard sees her classes trooping despondently from the Geography Room to the study hall, or carrying votive bundles of cardboard and paper to the recycling bins, their faces anxious, hopeful, like Indians doing a rain dance. He knows how they feel. Since mid-term he's existed in a constant state of..
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Paul Murray |
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05b486a
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They pause, almost but not quite clutching each other, with their ears cocked. The hideous dried-out croak is drawing inevitably closer - apparently, whether by some quirk of the architecture, the type of stone in the masonry perhaps or the curious way the corridor bends, from both directions at once. The boys gibber at each other helplessly. With every passing instant now the temperature drops precipitously, the grey light wanes; the ghast..
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Paul Murray |
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72fee6e
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Ruprecht can build another pod though, right? I mean it was mostly just tinfoil.' 'The problem is that he has no blueprint. From the original design he keeps making changes, but these he does not write down. So it is impossible to replicate exactly.' Later that day, Ruprecht approaches Skippy. His expression is feverish. 'I've devised a foolproof plan to get my pod back from St Brigid's,' he says. 'I call it, "Operation Falcon".' Skippy loo..
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Paul Murray |
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c8f8ec4
|
Just ahead of the Van Doren Quartet in the line is Trevor Hickey, aka 'The Duke', who with no visible means of making music is staring into space, mumbling a speech to himself: '... since the dawn of time... our oldest and most indefatigable foe...' Geoff keeps catching snatches of this, and curiosity eventually reels him in. 'Uh, Trevor, where's your instrument?' 'Shock and amaze - oh, I'm not giving a musical performance.' 'Not musical.....
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Paul Murray |
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add0242
|
The Principal of Seabrook College came in to speak to her too, a couple of days after it happened. He was a tall, dynamic man, in his late thirties maybe? Basically he was doing the same thing she was, trying to protect the school's image and explain that while it was a tragedy it was just this one crazy kid, and not anyone else's fault. Having said that - he put his hand on her arm - on behalf of the school I want to apologize for any dist..
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Paul Murray |
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f54a0ea
|
Skippy's dead, Blowjob! He's dead, and you can't bring him back! Not you, not every bent scientist in every laboratory in the world!' Breathing heavily, Dennis pauses, then turns his dreadful gaze on the others. 'You bummers need to get it through your heads that this is real. None of the stupid bullshit we do to distract ourselves is going to help any more. Spiderman isn't going to help. Eminem isn't going to help. Some fucking gay lame ti..
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Paul Murray |
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2de5186
|
It's a confidentiality clause. No doubt you'll be familiar with these from your days in the City. In signing, you consent by law not to disclose sensitive information pertaining to school affairs, including what we have discussed here today.' Howard gapes back at him stupidly. 'Are you serious?' 'Merely a precaution, Howard, making sure we've got all our angles covered. No need to rush into it right away. Take it home with you, think it ove..
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Paul Murray |
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3494c4b
|
A dainty man of a nervous disposition, Father Laughton detests discord above all things. He always climbs down before seriously disagreeing with anyone; he can't dismiss the most disruptive student from his class without feeling sorry twenty seconds later and racing down the corridor to summon him back. As a result, his music appreciation courses are notoriously anarchic - in fact they make anarchy look like a slow day at the library - and ..
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Paul Murray |