The 27 best phrases from “The Crooked Lines of God”

This novel written by Torcuato Luca and published in 1979 is the author’s most famous. The play tells the story of Alice Gould, who is admitted to a psychiatric hospital to investigate a homicide case.. Given the popular interest in this classic, we compile the best phrases of The crooked lines of God.

The work has received special attention from the union of psychologists and psychiatrists, so much so that many consider it a must-read fiction title.

The phrases of The crooked lines of God The information we collect below will allow you to discover why the novel has been so well received among academics and the general public. Let us begin.

The best phrases from “The Crooked Lines of God”

Although The crooked lines of God It is not a very well-known work among the new generations, it is well-known in the academic environment. In fact, Torcuato Luca de Tena Brunet He was a full member of the Royal Spanish Academy since 1973.

As a curiosity, a new film adaptation is expected, which will surely fuel even more interest in the title. Meanwhile, we leave you with his best phrases, accompanied by curiosities from the title.

1. “Because no one longs for what they never had, nor can they feel disappointed by lacking what they do not know.”

During the documentation process, the author was admitted to a psychiatric institution for 18 days.

2. “It is not those who want to offend, but those who can.”

The prologue of the work was written by the psychiatrist Juan Antonio Vallejo, who was also a writer and belonged to the Royal National Academy of Medicine.

3. “It is not usual to see angels in hell.”

It has a film adaptation in which the author himself collaborated in writing the script. It premiered in 1983, by director Tulio Demicheli.

4. “Justice belongs to a higher moral rank than courtesy.”

A new adaptation of the work was announced at the 2020 San Sebastián International Film Festival. It will be directed by Oriol Paulo and will premiere in 2022.

5. “There is an individual here who, if I speak, would steal my thoughts.”

At the time of publishing the novel, the author already had an extensive career as a journalist and writer. Two of his previous novels had already won the Planeta Prize, not to mention that he received the National Prize for Literature in 1955.

6. “Have answers for everything, even if it means lying, and even if your lies contradict others you told before.”

Torcuato Luca also cultivated poetry, chronicles, memoirs, essays, theater and fictional reports. However, The crooked lines of God is by far their most popular title. Another of his works that has endured among critics and the public is Prohibited age (1958).

7. “All that is uselessly added to pure necessity is art.”

The author did not have the approval of Juan Antonio Vallejo to be admitted to the psychiatric hospital. He achieved it, despite this, in the town of Conxo, Santiago de Compostela.

8. “Those who think go crazy. I never think, that’s why I’m healthy.”

Although Torcuato does not mention the hospital in which he was admitted in the work, the one alluded to in it, the Psychiatric Hospital of Nuestra Señora de Fuentecilla, meets all the characteristics.

9. “He is not interested in talking to humans, because the conversations he has with aliens are much more interesting and instructive.”

The author went through a golden age starting in 1976, since in a period of about 20 years he published 10 novels and three stage comedies. Among them is The crooked lines of God.

10. “Crying is a release of emotion.”

The work can be a bit dense, partly because it is very well documented. Torcuato not only spent a short time in a psychiatric hospital, He also read hundreds of books related to mental disorders and psychiatry..

11. “Alice congratulated herself on having found an exact definition for her mood: a calm sadness.”

It is important to keep in mind that the title directly refers to the treatment and stigma suffered by people with mental disorders. It is also a criticism of the treatment they received during the 20th century.

12. “Reasoning is equivalent to moving the mind.”

Torcuato always had a natural inclination for writing and research. At the age of 18, he published his first verses and his career as a journalist essentially revolved around research.

13. “Autumn has arrived with its splendid procession of golds, mauves and reds.”

The work has been described by the guild of psychologists and psychiatrists as essential for reading fiction. Both for its critical value and for the ideas it contains..

14. “Art is the science of the useless.”

It was an immediate success in its time, perhaps due to the general public’s interest in mental disorders.

15. “Man is the only animal that creates needs that have nothing to do with the subsistence of the individual and the reproduction of the species.”

Many criticisms made today focus on judging it from the prism of this time. It must be remembered that the work was published in 1979 and is not at all a diagnostic book in relation to mental disorders.

16. “Phobia is a pretext that the body has invented to hide a true, justified terror, but which the mind insists on ignoring.”

He was director of the newspaper ABC, in which he also held other positions. For example, he was a correspondent in London during World War II.

17. “God writes straight with crooked lines.”

The film adaptation helped revive interest in the work during the 1980s and 1990s. It is expected that the new Spanish production will do the same.

18. “A cup is more fragile the higher quality the porcelain.”

So far the novel has had numerous editions and has been translated into several languages.

19. “Perhaps true madness is nothing other than wisdom itself, which, tired of discovering the shames of the world, has made the intelligent decision to go crazy.”

The author also explored the field of politics, so his work was in various fields.

20. “It also brought melancholy: a mixture of peace and vague sadness.”

Torcuato lived in several countries, including Chile and Mexico.

21. “Of the past and present facts I do not know which are true and which are lies.”

Many of his novels explore historical drama, something we also find in several of his essays.

22. “The voice that once sounded is not lost forever.”

At the time of his death, the author had already distanced himself from writing due to his health.

23. “Not even total solitude comes close to silence.”

His plays also enjoyed high esteem from audiences and critics.

24. “Sometimes we flee the big city to escape the hustle and bustle, but all we do is substitute some sounds for others.”

During his journalistic work, Torcuato covered events in the Middle East, Mexico, Washington and other regions.

25. “Extroverts, who cast off the burden of their emotions, are less at risk of going crazy than introverts.”

His two most popular novels have nothing in common in terms of themes and ideas. Prohibited age (1958) narrates adolescence and the path to maturity and The crooked lines of God (1978) is about mental disorders.

26. “My head is like a messy room in which everything has changed places.”

Torcuato Luca died in June 1999, at the age of 75.

27. “There are mute people who do not speak because they cannot and others who do not do so because they do not want to.”

We finish this list of phrases The crooked lines of God with this reflection on silence.

What did the 27 sentences of The crooked lines of God? The title explores the thin line that separates mental disorders from mental health.. Be sure to visit its pages, especially if you are a lover of psychology, psychiatry and drama in novels.

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