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#6 Fictional Frameworks

March 29, 2008

my internal processor is not being very swift at churning through the information backlog in my brain accumulated over the last 6 months or so. am taking yonks to get to sleep and have become a bit of a bug-eyed zombie. i just came across this conversation in the book i am reading: ‘sputnik sweetheart’ by Haruki Murakami and think that i too am adjusting to a new ‘fictional framework’! 

“what in the world’s happening to me?”
“you’re asking me?”
Sumire nodded.
I took a sip of my cold beer and gathered my thoughts. 
“i think right now it’s like you’re positioning yourself in a new fictional framework. you’re preoccupied with that, so there’s no need to put your feelings into writing. besides, you’re too busy.”
“do you do that? put yourself inside a fictional framework?”
“i think most people live in a fiction. i’m no exception. think of it in terms of a car’s transmission. it’s like a transmission that stands between you and the harsh realities of life. you take the raw power from outside and use gears to adjust it so everything’s all nicely in sync. that’s how you keep your fragile body intact.”
 
i liked it a lot.  it could be something you need to see in context, but i thought it made sense as a stand-alone. 
 
just finished reading ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy. i agree with the review from the Sunday Times: ‘What really elevates the novel from its slough of despond is the sheer, terrible beauty of the writing’. it leaves you feeling ill in the stomach at a few points but without high drama which somehow makes it worse. he creates the desolate scenes so poignantly you love reading them despite how tragic they are. he is they guy who wrote ‘No Man No Country’.  

2 comments

  1. Hey, glad to hear you’re reading murakami – he’s one of my faves. I’ve got a couple more of his here – so hurry up and get here before I lend them to someone else! You might like Paul Auster too – some of his can be a little off the wall like Murakami. Love Chrissy xxx


  2. how exciting. a second comment!!
    Mum has lots of excellent books. her house is such a haven for a bookworm. am loving having the time to read lots and lots. i wont get through all her Murakami so will have to get my bottie over to you as soon as possible before you go farming them out. an outrageous thought.
    re-read ‘bridge to Terabithia’ yesterday and it made me sob again. am in the middle of ‘the undercover economist’ and have a huge pile of books to get through before i leave. eek.
    can’t wait to see you!!! xxxxxx



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