First draft blues:”He tested the stick and glanced at the set handbrake. With his feet he felt the accelerator, the brake, the clutch. Backwards, but otherwise just the same, and comforting in a solid, mechanical way. It even smelled right, oil, petrol, lubricated warm metal, and the polished windshield seemed transparent in the night’s silver flood

First draft blues:”He tested the stick and glanced at the set handbrake. With his feet he felt the accelerator, the brake, the clutch. Backwards, but otherwise just the same, and comforting in a solid, mechanical way. It even smelled right, oil, petrol, lubricated warm metal, and the polished windshield seemed transparent in the night’s silver flood (J. Gunnar Grey, Deal With the Devil, Part One)

The steward, according to custom, had stopped all the clocks. This, in the language of Narouz, said, “Your stay with us is so brief, let us not be reminded of the flight of the hours. God made eternity. Let us escape from the despotism of time altogether.” These ancient and hereditary politenesses filled Nessim with emotion

The steward, according to custom, had stopped all the clocks. This, in the language of Narouz, said, “Your stay with us is so brief, let us not be reminded of the flight of the hours. God made eternity. Let us escape from the despotism of time altogether.” These ancient and hereditary politenesses filled Nessim with emotion (Lawrence Durrell, Balthazar)