favorite lines: Over My Dead Body and Where There's a Will, Nero Wolfe 7 & 8

[cimorene]

"When an international financier is confronted by a holdup man with a gun, he automatically hands over not only his money and jewelry but also his shirt and pants, because it doesn't occur to him that a robber might draw the line somewhere."

• It was so loony that it dazed me.



• The yell that had split the air sounded like something that you might expect but would certainly resent if you found yourself alone in a jungle at night.



• "War doesn't mature men; it merely pickles them in the brine of disgust and dread."



• "When an international financier is confronted by a holdup man with a gun, he automatically hands over not only his money and jewelry but also his shirt and pants, because it doesn't occur to him that a robber might draw the line somewhere."



• "Phone Mr. Cramer. Give him everything."
  
  "Including my trip to the love nest?"
  
  He grimaced. "Don't use terms like that when my stomach's empty."



• I felt a lot like a hard morning at the alphabet piano.



• I opened the door and went in, and right away, even in the anteroom, found myself in the midst of prosperity, judging by the rugs and furniture and the type of employee displayed. She was the kind who without any visible effort conveys the impression that she got a job in an office only because she was fed up with yachting and riding to hounds.



• Cramer said, "I'm not a fool."
  
  Wolfe nodded again. "We all feel like that occasionally. The poison of conceit. It's all right if you keep an antidote handy."



• "[You] are pure imbecile. Most people are, under great stress, but that merely gives you company."



• "Do you take me for a maudlin blatherskite?"

—Rex Stout, Over My Dead Body

• I had to gulp the coffee, and it was as hot as hell's dishwater.



• "You've charged me," Wolfe snapped, "with being a knave and a nincompoop. Good day, sir."



• I did not believe that anyone, even April Hawthorne, could act the part of thirty wildcats with that amount of fervor; that one in the library actually was thirty wildcats.



• By midnight I was ready to bite holes in the windows.



• "Would you mind removing your hat, Miss Dunn? I deduce the thing is a hat, because it's on your head."

—Rex Stout, Where There's a Will

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

Enjoying these so much. You make me want to reread.

I forgot to mention how much I love Cramer in these books too.

I heard somewhere that Stout did not plot. He just starting writing. I find that hard to believe in the detective genre, but he was so brilliant and so steeped in the tropes and conventions that it may be true.

[cimorene]

I think I could believe it. His stories do HAVE plots that make sense but they're not driven by twists and red herrings the way some mysteries are.

[cimorene]

I'm saving a separate file of quotes that speak to characters and the relationships between them!!!

I've just finished The Black Orchid now, and the whole setup when Archie discovers the murder and runs around calling the cops before consulting Wolfe is fantastic.

[princessofgeeks]

Black Orchid... another one of my favorites!

[cimorene]

The menagerie house! 😂

[mecurtin]

These quotes are great! Mr Dr Science & At-Home Child are currently doing an Agatha Christie re-read; maybe I'll try to track down some Rex Stout for later. Where are you getting yours? The Stout collection at the local library isn't NEARLY as good as the Christie collection ...

[cimorene]

I read ebooks these days pretty much! It's much easier than ordering imports and waiting for them to arrive.