an abundance of katherines: chapter three - pages 12-20 (becca)

Colin and Hassan decide to go on a road trip together. We learn about Katherine I and how the importance of Katherine began.

memorable lines:
page 13:
"'Right, except I'm not going to lie to my mom, because what kind of bastard lies to his own mother?'"
'Hmm.'
'Well although, someone else could lie to her. I could live with that.'"

page 15:
"And the beautiful thing about driving was that it stole just enough of his attention... to distract from the gnawing hole in his belly."
To keep his mind occupied, he thought of other holes in other stomachs. He thought of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated in 1914. As he looked down at the bloody hole in his middle, the Archduke had said, 'It is nothing.' He was mistaken. There's no doubt that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand mattered, although he was neither a prodigy nor a genius: his assassination sparked World War I - so his death led to 8,528,831 others.

page 16:
"Dating, after all, only ends one way: poorly. If you think about it, and Colin often did, all romantic relationships end in either (1) breakup, (2) divorce, or (3) death.

page 17:
"Colin was skinny for his age, but tall, with tight  brown curls that erupted from his head with an Einstenian unpredictability."
{I adore this description of Colin as a toddler. It ties in well with the prodigy that he is and gives a hint at what is discussed on this page.}

"This was Colin's first memory: his dad slowly lowering the paper and smiling at him. His eyes were wide with surprise and pleasure, and his smile was uncontainable."
{This is such a beautiful first memory. The story behind what his dad is smiling at has the right amount of humor mixed with the brilliant revelation that takes place.}

page 18:
You're a very special person. Colin would hear this a lot, and yet -somehow- he could never hear it enough.

"He liked all books, because he liked the mere act of reading, the magic of turning scratches on a page into words inside his head."
{This is such a gorgeous description a person who enjoys reading for the pure act of it. Not to be transported to another world, not to forget reality, but to marvel that inside your brain you've learned to interpret the lines and swirls into meaning.}

page 19:
"It made him feel like no one liked him, which, in fact, no one did. His single consolation was that one day, he would matter. He'd be famous. And none of them ever would. That's why, his mom said, they made fun of him in the first place. 'They're just jealous,' she said. But Colin knew better. They weren't jealous. He just wasn't likable. Sometimes it's that simple."