quiet fixity of his driving

I've never heard of the word "fixity", but I would assume that the passenger is observing the driver's quiet concentration (on his driving).
Without context though, it's hard to tell.

I had never heard of the word "fixity" either. The dictionary defines it as:

1-The quality or condition of being fixed.
2-Something fixed or immovable.

The only thing that I can figure is that the driver was focused calmly and completely on his driving.

Phoenix's final sentence describes the expression perfectly.

However, i am surprised to see anyone who is a competent speaker of English (as both Doowop and Phoenix seem to be) say that they had never heard of "fixity."

OK, now it's clear.

What really surprises me is that Wordorigins-dot-com, the Online Etymology Dictionary and the Internet Public Library, none of them have fixity listed.

I have come upon some references. Charlotte Brontë uses the word fixity in Jane Eyre (1847) and in Shirley (1849). George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) uses the word in Adam Bede (1859). Andrew Lang uses the word in Myth, Ritual and Religion (1887). Ambrose Bierce uses the word in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1891). Samuel Butler uses the word in his 1898 translation of The Illiad. Joseph Conrad uses the word in The Heart of Darkness (1899). All of these references are courtesy of About-dot-com, and several references are to usages subsequent to 1900. Therefore, one can assume that the word has been in use since at least the first half of the 19th century, and that it was widely used and understood.

I've heard of 'fixity', but the description 'quiet fixity' seems a little odd to me.

Jane Eyre?

I re-read that only recently as well. Maybe I wasn't fixiting at the time.

I believe you want the word "fixate."

However, i took "About-dot-com's" word for it, i wasn't about to re-read Jane Eyre just to find the reference. If you go to the classic literature section of About-dot-com and type a word into the search window, it will throw up a list of works in which that word can be found. You'd have to read the novel again if you wanted to make them out to be liars.

I find it an excellent turn of phrase, which immediately conveys to me a complete image of the driver's behavior.

Set- Never came across that word before, or if I had, it never penetrated. It IS rather literary, and not in common conversational English usage, at least amongst the folks with whom I hang out! :wink:

No thanks Setanta, I ended up using it as an aide to restful sleep. Two pages and I was gone.

I've now moved on to The Dull Knives of Pine Ridge, and am still wide awake at 2am most nights. A very good read.

If you note the list i provided from About-dot-com, Ambrose Bierce is the only American author listed. It is entirely possible, that in addition to being a strictly literary usage, it is also a usage of British English, and not commonly used in the American language.

I've read it all with fascination. Yes, this author tends to put in words from British English, though he is equally at home with purely American expressions. And he seems erudite.