"He showed him what he'd done and asked if everything was square between them.
"Strunk nodded and said, Sure, things were square.
"But in the morning Lee Strunk couldn't stop laughing. 'The man's crazy,' he said. 'I stole his fucking jackknife.'" -- Page 61
Alright, before I get going on my rampage of analysis, I have a legitimate question to ask. Why do authors sometimes use quotes for dialogue and othertimes not (as seen in the above quote)? I'm puzzled as to what effect this has on, well, anything. Anyways, at this point in my reading I'm really enjoying the antics of Squad TTTC (The Things They Carried, self-nicknamed). They crack me up, and this chapter 'Enemies' is no different. Although their motivations are at times confusing, for the most part I take pleasure in reading the stories of everyman heroes. I'm starting to notice that the shorter, get-to-the-point chapters are more entertaining for me than the long, drawn-out, let-me-whine-about-my-feelings mini-novels. One thing I do respect about Tim though is that he knows how to end a chapter. I don't know what it is, but all his endings, up to this point included, either make me laugh or reflect, both of which I'd consider reactions desired from an audience.
sometimes not using quotation marks is a way to create less distance between the narration and the action taking place. Sometimes it's a stylistic choice. Some authors just like the way it looks. It tends to speed things up.
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