“The fact is if we followed the history of every little country in this world—in its dramatic as well as its quiet times—we would have no space left in which to live our own lives or to apply ourselves to our necessary tasks, never mind indulge in occasional pleasures, like swimming. Surely there is something to be said for drawing a circle around our attention and remaining within that circle. But how large should this circle be?”
― The Embassy of Cambodia
― The Embassy of Cambodia
“No "we" should be taken for granted when the subject is looking at other people's pain.”
― Regarding the Pain of Others
― Regarding the Pain of Others
“But at the end of the white board, the edge, where you'll come down with your weight to make it send you off, there are two areas of darkness. Two flat shadows in the broad light. Two vague black ovals. The end of the board has two dirty spots. They are from all the poeple who've gone before you. Your feet as you stand here are tender and dented, hurt by the rough wet surface, and you see that the two dark sports are from people's skin. They are skin abraded from feet by the violence of the disappearance of people with real weight. More people than you could count without losing track. The weight and abrasion of their disappearance leaves little bits of soft tender feet behind, bits and shards and curls of skin that dirty and darken and tan as they lie tiny and smeared in the sun at the end of the board. They pile up and get smeared and mixed together. They darken in two circles.”
― Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
― Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
“This is what people call a view. And you knew that from below you wouldn't look nearly so high overhead. You see now how high overhead you are. You knew from down there no one could tell . . . There's been time this whole time. You can't kill time with your heart. Everything takes time. Bees have to move very fast to stay still.”
― Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
― Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
“And girl-women, women, curved like instruments or fruit, skin burnished brown-bright, suit tops held by delicate knots of fragile colored string against the pull of mysterious weights, suit bottoms riding low over the gentle juts of hips totally unlike your own, immoderate swells and swivels that melt in light into a surrounding space that cups and accommodates the soft curves as things precious. You almost understand.”
― Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
― Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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The world is made up of two kinds of people: first, those who love classics, and second, those who have not yet read a classic. Be bold and join us as ...more
music with books
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safe space made to share playlist to listen while reading, share music taste, realte songs to books or character etc you can put your @ of spotify or ...more
Literary Fiction by People of Color
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This can include genre fiction that is literary (e.g. speculative fiction, historical fiction, etc.), as long as it's written by a person of color (Af ...more
はなこ’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at はなこ’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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