How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Give me a piece of your brain, Perry. I want to taste it." (1.10.143)
Looking past the irony of this statement, we can see that a book is kind of a little piece of an author's brain. When you read it, you're tasting a bit of what's in there.
Quote #5
We taught them how to shoot, how to pour concrete, how to kill and how to survive, and if they made it that far, if they mastered those skills and had time to spare, then we taught them how to read and write, to reason and relate and understand the world. (2.2.14)
These are important survival skills, yes. After all, you're not going to kill a zombie by reading to it. (Unless you're reading Dan Brown aloud or something.) But by not making time for reading and writing, they're losing touch with literature and the past, thereby just adding to the decay of society.
Quote #6
As I lie there, letting my mind rise into those imaginary heavens, two of the stars begging to change. They rotate, and focus, and their shapes clarify. They become... letters. (2.2.189)
R isn't reading the stars here, he's reading the writing on Julie's ceiling. But these words are like constellations to him. And as though R is an explorer, constellations are meant to guide, just like words.