The novel is a game or joke shared between author and reader.
The world knew you before you knew the world.
Self-consciousness is the curse of the city and all that sophistication implies.
Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you.
No one escapes the wilderness on the way to the promised land.
Having chosen this foolishness, I was a free being. How could the world ever stop me, how could I betray myself, if I was not afraid?