Kit

“Donne loved the trans- prefix: it's scattered everywhere across his writing—'transpose', 'translate', 'transport', 'transubstantiate'. In this Latin preposition—'across, to the other side of, over, beyond'—he saw both the chaos and potential of us. We are, he believed, creatures born transformable. He knew of transformation into misery: 'But O, self-traitor, I do bring/The spider love, which transubstantiates all/And can convert manna to gall'— but also the transformation achieved by beautiful women: 'Us she informed, but transubstantiates you'.

And then there was the transformation of himself: from failure and penury, to recognition within his lifetime as one of the finest minds of his age; one whose work, if allowed under your skin, can offer joy so violent it kicks the metal out of your knees, and sorrow large enough to eat you. Because amid all Donne's reinventions, there was a constant running through his life and work: he remained steadfast in his belief that we, humans, are at once a catastrophe and a miracle.”
― Katherine Rundell, Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne

“How long have you been with Pipps?” “Five years,” said Arent, taking another gulp of the terrible wine. “He heard the songs about me and decided he needed somebody like that standing in front of him when he accused people of murder.” Drecht laughed. “You never put that in your stories.” “Good sense sometimes sounds like cowardice when you write it down.” He shrugged his massive shoulders.”
― Stuart Turton, The Devil and the Dark Water

“As forks of lightning struck the deck, Crauwels prayed for God to see them through this. And when that got no response, he prayed to Old Tom.
'So this is how men go to the devil,' he thought bitterly. Cap in hand and short of hope, all their prayers gone unanswered.”
― Stuart Turton, The Devil and the Dark Water

“To adore and to devour and to be devoured is its own kind of focus: a gasp of a different kind of oxygen.”
― Katherine Rundell, Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne