November 20, 2014

three snippets, 11-20-2014

Snippet 1: Ursula K LeGuin's speech at the 65th National Book Awards.

Snippet 2:
I hate books; they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

I can't make heads or tails of Rousseau. My first impression was that he needed a punch in the nose, but the more I read, the more I'm warming up to him. He's weird. I like that.

Snippet 3:
Dreams are the other side of life, everything has at least two sides, the moon, rocks, happiness, regret, and betrayal.
 - Jón Kalman Stefánsson, The Sorrow of Angels, 2013

That's a heck of a sentence. Go back and read it again. This is a great novel, best enjoyed by firelight. But read Stefánsson's Heaven and Hell first; Sorrow is the second in a three-part series. (Full disclosure: I'm related to the translator.)

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