How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
And God caused him to die for a hundred years, and then raised him to life. And God said, "How long hast thou waited?" He said, I have waited a day or part of a day." Qur'ān, 2:261 (Epigraph)
After reading this epigraph from the Islamic holy text, you wouldn't expect the story to be about a Jewish guy. But the takeaway has to do with the subjectivity of time, a theme that definitely isn't limited to any one religion.
Quote #2
In the darkness he spoke with God. (6)
Up until this point, Judaism has seemed like a mostly academic exercise to Jaromir. It's something he writes about, and it's a part of his cultural heritage, but we haven't seen any evidence that it's had any spiritual influence on Jaromir. Clearly, things are a-changing.
Quote #3
If, he prayed, I do somehow exist, if I am not one of Thy repetitions or errata, then I exist as the author of The Enemies. In order to complete that play, which can justify me and justify Thee as well, I need one more year. Grant me those days, Thou who art the centuries and time itself. (6)
Jaromir's prayer to God is basically a plea for more time. That's a pretty universal desire, don't you think?
Quote #4
Toward dawn, he dreamed that he was in hiding, in one of the naves of the Clementine Library. (7)
The Clementine Library was once the collection of Pope Clement XI. Based at the Catholic University of America since 1928, it's a sneaky way to incorporate the third big monotheistic religion – Christianity – into a story that already mentions Islam and Judaism.
Quote #5
What are you looking for? a librarian wearing dark glasses asked him. I'm looking for God, Hladik replied. (7)
Jaromir's spiritual quest is closely related to his academic and artistic ambitions. By searching for God in a library, he really hammers home the idea that his spiritual redemption can only come through scholarly work.
Quote #6
A voice that was everywhere spoke to him: The time for your labor has been granted. (7)
Wait, is God is really going to intervene in Jaromir's life? When did this become a story about the divine?
Quote #7
He remembered that the dreams of men belong to God and that Maimonides had written that the words of a dream, when they are clear and distinct and one cannot see who spoke them, are holy. (8)
Jaromir's reference to Maimonides, a famous Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages, hints that maybe God really was speaking to him in his dream. Yikes.