Don’t go growing a conscience on me,” I said. “I’ve been down that road. It doesn’t lead you to anything good.
People are the worst animals,” Rider said. “They will do anything to each other. Just to indulge their fantasies.
You can become unhinged and cut loose from the world. You can believe you are a permanent outsider. But the innocence of a child will bring you back and give you the shield of joy with which to protect yourself. I have learned this late in life but not too late. It’s never too late.
If the system turns away from the abuses inflicted on the guilty, then who can be next but the innocents?
I think books with weak or translucent plots can survive if the character being drawn along the path is rich, interesting and multi-faceted. The opposite is not true.