Into The Self

One page of a larger essay, or a really thoughtful letter:

do we excite ourselves into life. As nature renews after winter so does beauty after death. Ah, but we can never catch beauty... it is a flighty bird as portrayed in the parable "Susannah and The Elders."

Finally, the artist moves in the only direction possible, into the self. The body is a decrepit hulk that forces us to retreat into the mind. The physical world exists only as a necessary postulate of the mind. The mind and body and distinct and their

Found in "The Hotel New Hampshire" by John Irving. Published by Pocket Books, 1981.

-Click to enlarge photos-
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3 comments:

  1. GrahamDecember 22, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    Wait, not possible. PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY was first published in 1989; this cannot be a 1981 printing of HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE.

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  2. Michael PopekDecember 22, 2011 at 1:18 PM

    Ah, you're right about that.

    Here's the copyright page:

    http://i.imgur.com/cImde.jpg

    I should have said 1982, the last date mentioned - this is a later printing of unknown date.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kelly RobinsonDecember 23, 2011 at 10:16 AM

    Too bad some of Irving's style didn't rub off. "Decrepit hulk" gave me a chuckle.

    ReplyDelete