How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph
Quote #1
And then there was her mother, always nudging her in the direction of suitable men, while hinting that in her day, you didn't just sit around waiting for Mr. Right; you went out, were proactive. The result of all this proactivity struck Lucy as equivocal. Her mother had obviously experienced many things in her time, but had ended up marrying her father—a perfectly dear man, but one with whom (even to Lucy's affectionate eye) she appeared to have little in common. Lucy's brain slid to her Godfather, Bernard, as it had many times over the years. Had her mother been proactive with him? (7.19)
According to Lucy's mom, we should all be on Match.com looking for love. But we're not so sure she's right. After all, she's talking about finding Mr. Right—not finding the love of your life. It's possible those aren't the same thing at all.
Quote #2
Bob's mouth twisted; his eyes glittered with unshed tears. "You know. Flowers and love songs and that. Like they do it." (18.21)
For all that Bob created the world, he doesn't know much about it. Bob is kind of like an alien (okay, guess he actually is an alien) looking down at our customs, and so he mistakes the TV-and-radio kind of love for the real deal.
Quote #3
"I love her more than the moon and the stars. And all that stuff." "Of course." Mr. B paused, wondering how much Bob cared for the moon and the stars, if at all. (29.80)
Oh, yeah. Very convincing. Will you be sending out the divorce notice at the same time as the marriage announcement, or do you think you'll wait a week or two?
Quote #4
"You don't even have the first idea. She's amazing. She's miraculous. She's the most incredible, beautiful girl. And I made her." Mr. B raised an eyebrow. Bob recoiled. "Not like that. I made the people who made her and the ones who made them and the ones who made them. And so on and so on, back and back and back. And each set of perfect combinations came together because of the way I made them." (28.82)
So, um, how much does Bob actually love Lucy? He sure talks about how he made her a lot. We don't want to be gross, but is this just him masturbating again in a really really weird way?
Quote #5
Something about this scene ignites a tiny flame in Mr. B's heart and he cannot tear his eyes from it. Estelle is not beautiful—but the pure clarity of her features makes her as irresistible to him as an angel. He would like to be in the boat with them, in the place of the Eck. He would like to be held in the arms of this clear-eyed, clear-voiced girl, who seems to be the only creature among all his acquaintances who cares for something besides self-glorification and the gratification of her own desires. (34.37)
Here we go: this seems like the first spark of love. Notice how, unlike all the scenes of Lucy and Bob, things are not going insane.
Quote #6
Bob watched her, and knew that he too had been wrong about the world. It had been veiled even from him, its creator, and now lay before him in a fullness of glory. (35.33)
Bob seems to be suggesting here that he hasn't really lived until he's loved, but (1) we're not so sure about that, and (2) we're also not so sure that he's actually in love—maybe a lot more like lust.
Quote #7
Was he madly in love, or just mad? Was love meant to be so much like falling? (35.48)
Good question Lucy. We wonder if she knows that, according to science, love looks a whole lot like drug addiction?
Quote #8
"Oh," she sighed. "Don't even joke about it. I felt so happy on Saturday when I thought it might actually be over." When I had sex with Bob. Amazing sex. Or was it love? Amazing love? Either way, he hadn't called. Why hadn't he called? (37.19)
All this time Lucy has been assuming that love and sex are a package deal (hint: they're not). She still seems a little confused here, but it sounds like she's starting to get a clue.
Quote #9
If I didn't care, my eyes would not ache and my gut would not churn and none of this idiocy would bother me. […] I care about earth and all of Bob's tragic creations. I care about Estelle, and I care about Eck, he thought, though I cannot allow myself to think of him, for there is nothing I can do to reverse his fate. I care about Mona, despite a clear understanding of her faults. […] How pathetic I am, he thought. I even care about Bob. (38.27)
This novel focuses so much on romantic love that it's easy to forget that there are other kinds of love too. Like the love that Poppa Mr. B has for everyone! Aww.
Quote #10
"Go, Bernard. A little heartbreak, that's all. Part of the human condition. It won't be the last time." The look they shared spoke of the sympathy and wisdom of age, of its disappointments and yearnings, its habit of unacknowledged feelings. (42.28)
Here's a thought: maybe heartbreak is part of the human condition because Bob created us in his image, and he's not too good at the whole love thing.
Quote #11
He would like to wake up with someone, a woman worth crawling out of the warmth for. On a morning such as this, he would pad through to the kitchen to put the coffee on, present it to her as an offering. He would happily suffer the cold floor beneath his feet in exchange for the happiness of returning to bed for a few minutes to drink coffee and talk. (45.4)
It's interesting that Luke associates love with sacrifice. Maybe that's why Bob can never truly love—because he doesn't know how to sacrifice himself.