Quote of the Day

I have never seen anything like it: two little disks of glass suspended in front of his eyes in loops of wire. Is he blind? I could understand it if if wanted to hide blind eyes. But he is not blind. The discs are dark, they look opaque from the outside, but he can see through them. He tells me they are a new invention.

From Waiting for the Barbarians, by J.M. Cotzee

Cotzee's "Disgrace"

I read J.M. Cotzee's Disgrace (after picking it up at the Cazenovia Library's fantastic book sale) in a fever pitch, finishing it in three days. It's an incredible book. I'll need to read it again to pick up all of the elements that create this fascinating tension throughout the book: one moment, you feel that the protagonist has found his salvation, the next, you see that he's in an even worse situation as before.

The entire thing is filled with Cotzee's incredible musing, piercing prose. It's not a light-hearted book. I'm also sure i'm missing a lot of the undertext of the South African situation (I didn't even realize that one of the characters was black until over half-way through the book, and it's a major point). Regardless, it's a stunning book that has colored my last few days and will continue to do so.

Tomorrow: onto Inherent Vice!