"...grown-ups, especially men, seldom showed excitement in that sense, and this grown-up had no Daphne Hodgson to concentrate on. But that part of it was only a part of it; surely, no human being could not feel excited at the simple prospect of going to a dance? That was it of course--the difference between feeling something and showing it. It must get like second nature with grown-ups to hide their excitement, and a good thing too, because a grown-up who was going to a dance with Daphne Hodgson at it, and who, being grown up, knew exactly what to do about her, would just make a public exhibition of himself (to borrow one of [his Dad's] favourite phrases) if he were to show the excitement he would feel. Of course." - Peter, Kingsley Amis's The Riverside Villas Murder
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2010-06-02 11:59 pm (UTC)"...grown-ups, especially men, seldom showed excitement in that sense, and this grown-up had no Daphne Hodgson to concentrate on. But that part of it was only a part of it; surely, no human being could not feel excited at the simple prospect of going to a dance? That was it of course--the difference between feeling something and showing it. It must get like second nature with grown-ups to hide their excitement, and a good thing too, because a grown-up who was going to a dance with Daphne Hodgson at it, and who, being grown up, knew exactly what to do about her, would just make a public exhibition of himself (to borrow one of [his Dad's] favourite phrases) if he were to show the excitement he would feel. Of course." - Peter, Kingsley Amis's The Riverside Villas Murder