A Ladder to the Sky

by John Boyne

I was uncertain what I wanted from him but then what does one want from the Mona Lisa or the statue of David other than to sit silently in their presence and appreciate their enigmatic beauty?

‘You’re too young to write off your weaknesses as failures,’ I said. ‘The more you read, the more you write, the more the ideas will appear. They’ll fall like confetti around your head and your only difficulty will be deciding which ones to catch and which to let fall to the floor.’

Just say what you have to say, I had told him, and then move on and say something else. Sometimes, after all, the sky is just blue.

Everyone has secrets, I had remarked. There’s something in all our pasts that we wouldn’t want to be revealed. And that’s where you’ll find your story.

Perhaps it would be a good idea if everyone just stopped writing for a couple of years and allowed readers to catch up.

Writers are all fascists. We like to control the discourse and crush anyone who dares to disagree with us.’

‘And you’ve heard the old proverb about ambition, haven’t you?’ He shook his head. ‘That it’s like setting a ladder to the sky. A pointless waste of energy.