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The great danger to the Great American Dream is a lack of productivity. If love derails that, there’s instability, dependence, disaster … That’s why all the great chaps of history have been emotionally cauterised.
If Barreto sees a chance to develop the central metaphor of the narrative, he’s going to take that chance and develop that central metaphor. And he’s going to develop it like the dickens.
Despite what many believe, Christmas is still celebrated in Ipswich, often annually, and in much the same fashion as it is in the developed world.
I would assist my mother (a Norwegian whose principal adversary was dust) in decorating the whole house, and while doing so, she would assist me in my understanding that without protracted preparation, there can be no spontaneous fun.
My dad (a Nigerian whose principal adversary was levity) did not eat Christmas Biscuits/Christmas Meringues because he didn’t like ‘sweet stuff’.
Whenever I see ‘fusion’ food, I wonder whether anyone would dare combine what was combined in our house. Our food was beyond fusion; it was fission.
some of the presents I received would be ‘from’ our pets, so that it felt like I was part of a wider community. As a result, I never believed in Father Christmas, but I did believe that my pet rabbit shopped at Debenhams.
Of course we find it hard to think of Jason Statham as a scientist or Sean Connery as a person; we simply grit the teeth and muddle through. But we have our limits.
‘I have no idea how you managed to graduate,’ he hissed, a proud twinkle in his eye.
Ted expresses disbelief that Donna would make such an important decision alone, with no consultation. As Chandler from the sitcom Friends might have said, ‘Could you be more autocratic?!’
‘Now that I’m with you, my life is a doing room?’ Doesn’t sound too romantic now, does it, Ted?
I must have thought that one day, someone would approach me and say, ‘Love the Holden Caulfield reference. How would you feel about becoming soulmates in a way that doesn’t entail any actual emotional responsibility on your part?’
People you haven’t met are easy to idealise, but people who don’t exist are even better.
Invented idols can be controlled.
Because to be moved by something made by someone who has done something bad would mean that a bad person possesses the capacity to connect to us; that they haven’t, somehow, forfeited their humanity.
In fact, Sally’s inability to see her own role in Donna’s present situation is borderline psychotic.
We all know the path to success requires that dead wood be burnt. And by dead wood, I mean living people. Only when you’ve established your dominion can you reward yourself with romance. You cannot dedicate yourself to self-advancement when you’re in a relationship: how can you help yourself and another person at the same time? It’s impossible. Here’s a Times obituary you’ll never read: ‘As great a rock star as he was, he was perhaps an even greater husband.’ No one who achieved anything was ‘there’ for someone else. They were elsewhere. Achieving.
despite shutting everyone out of their lives in order to achieve their goals, can repair the untold damage they’ve wreaked by making a small admission of culpability late in Act III, followed by a declaration of love.
‘I’m gonna write a monograph on View from the Top, see? And I’m going to interweave my response to this little-seen gem with moments and memories from my life. And there ain’t nuttin’ you or any of you dirty heels at Faber can do, see? Cos I ain’t doing some picture book called Cats Who Love Without Boundaries or whatever the hell else is de rigueur with you douchebags down in Soho Town. I’m writing a book for me, you rat. You hear me? This is for me, you low-down louse. Ya hear? For me, Ma, ME!!!’
I started to laugh. Slowly at first, then faster, then at medium pace, then I paused for a while before getting right back into it.
My modest aim is that it delights, entertains and reconfigures the relationship between you and the universe. I hope you have the humility to receive it.
