How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"The kind who live for music and are constantly seeking it out, anywhere they can. Who can't imagine a life without it. They're enlightened." (5.62)
Well that's a little pretentious, but we can forgive Owen for this statement. Music is obviously his whole life, and he expresses himself through the music that he loves and plays on his radio station.
Quote #2
Hearing the opening chords, I had a pang of missing Kristen, who, during her rebellion-filled senior year, had developed a passion for seventies-era guitar rock, which, at its height, had her listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon on repeat for what seemed like weeks at a time. (8.38)
Listening to Kristen's music from high school makes Annabel remember how her sister was back then, and it makes her miss Kristen's presence. After all, Kristen is the one who made it out and is living her own life now, separate from their family.
Quote #3
Between our discourses on early punk, big band and swing, and the questionable redeeming qualities of techno music, I was learning more and more about him. (9.30)
By chatting with Owen about music (and telling him that she hates techno, again and again), Annabel isn't just learning about his musical taste—she's also learning a lot about his past and his family life.
Quote #4
"You might totally hate it," he admitted. "Or not. It might be the answer to all life's questions. That's the beauty of it. You know?" (9.84)
The thing about music is that it's completely subjective. Everyone who listens to a song takes something different from it, and that's okay—the whole point is that your experience is going to just yours.
Quote #5
"If you want a real education," he continued, ignoring this, "you can't just sit and wait for the music to come to you. You have to go to the music." (10.180)
Owen is really serious about expanding Annabel's musical horizons, and he wants her to explore all the music that he loves. Is this just his way of trying to get close to her and flirting?
Quote #6
The door opened for them, but you couldn't see who was on the other side. As they disappeared inside, the camera panned down until the grass filled the screen again, side to side, scarily green and bright and fake. And then it was over. (12.15)
Kristen's film may not make a lot of sense to Annabel, but that's not the important part—the important thing is that she likes it and experiences some kind of human emotion when she's watching it.
Quote #7
But in the car wash, my mother's music sounded different. Beautiful. It was only then that I could close my eyes and enjoy it, understanding what it was that she heard every time. (12.95)
Classical may not be what the kids go for every time they turn on the radio, but it's different in the car wash. In such a confined and insulated space, everything sounds and feels newer. Maybe that's why Annabel chooses to share this space with Owen—she wants to share something private and wonderful with him.
Quote #8
She was also writing. She'd finished her official history by the end of October, but since then she'd kept at it, often sitting at the dining room table scribbling on a notepad, or curling up by the fire chewing her pencil. (15.69)
In a way writing saves Whitney. It gives her a way to express herself now that she can't model, so instead of feeling like her life has been taken away from her, she can write her own story one word at a time.
Quote #9
I remembered Owen telling me how music had saved him in Phoenix, that it drowned everything out, and it was the same for me now. As long as I had something to listen to, I could blur the things I didn't want to think about, if not block them out completely. (15.96)
Music isn't just a fun past time for Owen and Annabel; it's a life raft. With music they're both able to tune out the rest of the world and forget their worries for a few moments; they can exist in their own little bubble.
Quote #10
The sound was nothing, empty, but at the same time, it pushed everything else out, quieting me enough that I began to be able to make out something distant, hard to hear. But it was there, albeit softly, coming to me from some dark place I'd never seen but still knew well. (17.41)
Even though the CD that Owen gives Annabel is blank, she finds her own music in it. She is able to listen to the silence and hear her true self—the one telling her that she needs to speak up and tell the story of what happened to her.