The Book of Form and Emptiness

by Ruth Ozeki

He heard his roommate breathing and the universe creaking as it rearranged itself around him.

His was not the steady grazing of the methodical cow, but rather more like the browsing of a deer in the springtime, when the leaves are tender and young—a nibble here, a nibble there.

It was as if the words on the pages of the books had given the voices in his head something to think about, to contemplate in silence, and so the summer passed.

A shadow crossed your face, and in that moment something changed. We felt it happen. For the first time you realized the power of books and what we might be capable of, and you were scared. Once a thought is thought, it cannot be unthought. Once riven, how can trust be regained? There are no easy answers.