The Future

by Naomi Alderman

“If I met someone, I’d fall through the hole in the ice inside myself. I can’t be happy again because then I’d know how unhappy I am.”

The only thing it’s like is the Gutenberg print revolution and that was followed by four hundred years of bloody war. Suddenly, people were exposed to so much more information than ever before. They had no systems to process it or to tell truth from lies. They were overwhelmed. That’s where we are. And humanity doesn’t have time for four hundred years of bloody war right now. There are so many emergencies to deal with.”

Leaving is a skill you can learn.

Every time they fought the cancer back, it returned more strongly somewhere else. Like an enemy army hiding, regrouping, striking from a new direction.