The shame that tormented me was all the more corrosive for having no very clear origin: I didn't know why I felt so tainted, and worthless, and wrong-only that I did, and whenever I looked up from my books I was swamped by slimy waters rushing in from all sides.
Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch
books, corrosive, shame, taint, tainted, torment, worthless, worthlessness