Thursday, May 13, 2010

Words Float out Like Holograms

Two of the books I've read in the past couple of days have mentioned Archduke Franz Ferdinand. His name, assassination, and the subsequent WWI are pretty much the only things I remember from History class in high school, except for a board game my friend and I made about concentration camps. (I know way too much about concentration camps for a person of such delicate sensibilities.) I feel like this is a meaningful coincidence, except I don't know what for. What could these books possibly be trying to tell me. (It's like that time many, many years ago, when all I heard about was Fresno, California. It seemed like everyone and their moms were talking about Fresno and I was intrigued. What's so great about Fresno? Aren't there other wonderful places in California? I don't like California anymore, anyway. I had a bad experience.)

Moving along. Whilst reading I discovered two more things: I enjoy novels with footnotes, and I am losing the ability to experience things. I start a book and find myself hurrying along so I can find out what happens at the end and be finished. When did this happen? Reading is one of my favourite things! I also noticed it when I went to the tulips, and when I waited in line for two hours to get into the Art Gallery for free. I can't just look at stuff. How do normal people do it? I don't know what my internal monologue is supposed to be while I am looking at stuff. If I can't interact with it, or explore it, or learn something from it, I don't know what to do with it. I find this troubling.

1 comment:

  1. good thought. it is crazy how we race through something simply to have gone through the experience of it without actually experiencing it. thanks for the reminder. :)

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