"Empire of the Sun" Quotes

Jim realized that he was free, after four years of being protected like the skins of oranges.

Jim was now too deep in history and, besides, he had found new images that were kept a secret from his teachers.

They were city lungs and had forgotten that their air was poisoned: they could not see that they were walking through steam from a corroded land.

One thing Jim detested more than anything else was the way his father would cry like a child in Jim's presence.

Jim had seen some horses die, but never one age with such dignity.

One of Jim's most vivid memories was of a disk exploding in a splash of yellow mud followed by the split backdrop of a splitting sun.

Jim found him, slumped in the wreckage, and tried to lift his head... but his arm burned like acid from the flames that flowed from the sky.

Jim would never forget how he had waited for one of them to touch him: they never did.

What amazed Jim more than anything was the failure of all those around him to recognize their captor.

Jim grew closer to Basie, who acted as if he were dying - just like Jim's father.