Present Imperfect
read.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
February 20, 2008
“‘Why does that obstinate little voice in our heads torment us so?’ he said, looking round the table. ‘Could it be because it reminds us that we are alive, of our mortality, of our individual souls — which, after all, we are too afraid to surrender but yet make us feel more miserable than any other thing? But isn’t it also pain that often makes us most aware of self? It is a terrible thing to learn as a child that one is a being separate from all the world, that no one and no thing hurts along with one’s burned tongues and skinned knees, that one’s aches and pains are all one’s own. Even more terrible, as we grow older, to learn that no person, no matter how beloved, can ever truly understand us. Our own selves make us most unhappy, and that’s why we’re so anxious to lose them, don’t you think?’” Read more...
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
February 20, 2008
“‘I stick with Blake,’ I said, ‘and I draw a line. Between what’s proved and what’s just jerking off — premature reification. If I see my Aunt Emily get decapitated in a freak piano-tuning accident, and then a bodiless shape that looks just like Auntie Em comes walking through my bedroom wall at three in the morning with its head tucked underneath its arm, I don’t just jump for the nearest conclusion — which is that whatever is on the label has to be in the box.’” Read more...
God is Dead by Ron Currie, Jr.
February 20, 2008
“Correct. The answer is, I don’t have an answer. I can offer no comfort and little insight. I am not your God. Or if I am, I’m no God you can seek out for deliverance or explanation. I’m the kind of God who would eat you without compunction if I were hungry. You’re as naked and alone in this world as you were before finding me. And so now the question becomes: Can you abide by this knowledge? Or will it destroy you, empty you out, make you a husk among husks?” Read more...