"The same people who marched for civil rights in the United States are the same people who protested Apartheid in South Africa, who are the same people who worked for peace in Ireland and are the same people who fought against debt slavery in the Jubilee Year 2000, who are the same people, beautiful people that I see when I look around this place tonight in 360 degrees. We are those people. We are the same person. Because our voices were heard, millions more of our brothers and sisters are alive. Thanks to the miracle of aids drugs and malaria drugs. They will be doctors, they will be ministers, they will be scientists who will live to solve great problems. Yes there are many obstacles. Of course there are always roadblocks in the way of justice. But God will put a wind at our back and a rising road ahead. If we work with each other as one..."

"It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy...."

"C'est une époque de guerre civile. A bord de vaisseaux spatiaux opérant à partir d'une base inconnue, les Rebelles ont remporté leur première victoire sur l'abominable Empire Galactique. Au cours de la bataille, les Rebelles ont réussi à dérober les plans secrets de l'arme absolue de l'Empire : L'ETOILE Noire, une station spatiale dotée d'un armement assez puissant pour annihiler une planète toute entière. Poursuivie par les sbires sinistres de l'Empire, la Princesse Léia regagne la base dans son vaisseau cosmique, porteuse des plans volés à l'ennemi qui pourraient sauver son peuple et restaurer la liberté dans la galaxie..."

"Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige"."

"Chaque tour de magie comporte trois parties ou actes. La première s'appelle "La Promesse". Le magicien vous présente quelque chose d'ordinaire: un jeu de carte, un oiseau ou un homme. Il vous le présente. Peut-être même vous invite t-il à l'examiner, afin de constater qu'il est en effet réel, intact, normal. Mais il est bien entendu loin de l'être. Le deuxième acte s'appelle "Le Tour". Le magicien utilise cette chose ordinaire pour lui faire accomplir quelque chose d'extraordinaire. Alors vous cherchez le secret mais vous ne le trouvez pas. Parce que, bien entendu, vous ne le regardez pas attentivement. Vous n'avez pas vraiment envie de savoir. Vous avez envie d'être dupé. Mais vous ne pouvez vous résoudre à applaudir, parce que faire disparaître quelque chose est insuffisant. Encore faut-il le faire revenir. C'est pourquoi pour chaque tour de magie, il existe un troisième acte, le plus difficile, celui que l'on nomme "Le Prestige"."

"Mon grand-père, le Roi George, il m'emmène dans le bush, il m'enseigne les façons des hommes noirs. Grand-père, il m'enseigne la plus importe leçon de toutes : raconter les histoires. Ce jour-là, dans le billabong, le Roi George m'enseigne comment attraper le poisson, avec le chant magique. Moi, je ne suis pas noir. Je ne suis pas blanc. Les blancs disent de moi Sang-Mêlé. Demi-Sang. Métisse. Ma place est nulle part. Ce jour-là, je vois les blancs pousser les taureaux têtus à travers la rivière, sur les terres de Carney. Le Roi George colère contre les blancs. Le Roi George dit, les blancs, esprits mauvais. Ils doivent être enlevés de cette terre. [...] Cette terre, mon peuple a beaucoup de noms pour elle. Mais les blancs l'appellent Australia."

"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me."

Emo Philips

"Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed."

Wayne Dyer

"It starts with light and ends with light.And in between, there is darkness."

Mohinder, Heroes

"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends."

Gandalf, Lord of the Rings

First the colours.
     Then the humans.
     That's usually how I see things.
     Or at least, how I try.

THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH.

it's a small story, about:

a girld
*
an accordionist
*
some fanatical Germans
*
a Jewish fist fighter
*
and quite a lot of thievery.