a family friend (who i have not met yet, but will meet in a little over a week but already has a place in my heart because my fam loves her) just asked for a book recommendation because she has a train ride coming up. i was trying to think of a good book to recommend (there are just SO many good books in the world) and the one i chose was "grimus" by salman rushdie. i read that book last year and it really captured me in a way that books seldom do. i remembered that i blogged about it on my old myspace blog when i was reading it, so i went and dug that up to share a piece of this most amazing piece of literature.
-It's a serious tale, she said. It is about the Angel of Death. In the story, he is sent out by God to collect the dead souls; but he finds a frightening thing happening to him, for as he swallows each soul it becomes a part of him. And so Death is changed, metamorphosed as it were, by each dying creature. The poor Angel finds it a bigger and bigger strain, and also begins to have doubts about whether he even exists as an independent being with all these people inside him; so he returns to God and asks to be relieved of his function. And what do you think he finds? This: that God too, is tired of his job, and wants to die. God asks the Angel to swallow him and of course the Angel cannot refuse. So he does, and God dies; but the effort of swallowing him breaks the heart of the Angel. And there is a very sad ending, when he realizes that Death cannot die, for there is no-one to swallow him. Don't you think that's a very pretty, neat tale?
-grimus p141
and i knew i could count on gustave dore for a most excellent picture to accompany this post :)
I will definitely put this on my list to read!
ReplyDeletePS posting a comment on your blog is a nightmare for me.
ReplyDeleteI just wanna link back to my blog...
;)
kat, what a fantastic pic and quotation from Grimus. you were so right! i've finally been able to read all your posts, and i must say, you are an amazing person. like i said to you last night, i would love to hang with you even if we weren't related -- but i'm so glad we are! i can see you becoming more sage and awesome as i read through your posts. it makes me feel like i was right to tell folks about my illness after all. insight and wisdom, though painful to come by, are worth the getting. your posts also remind me that my current unhappiness is totally my own fault. that's a good thing, because it means that if i don't like how i feel, i can simply change what i'm thinking. try that with the weather!
ReplyDeletejust want to leave one last byron katie thought with you, the one i mentioned on the phone: "thoughts come to pass, not to stay"
i love you, my dear daughter xxxxxxxxmom
p.s. you can put a thingie on your blog, i think it's under "settings," that will make it easy for Miss Ash to comment.
ok ash - i think i fixed the comment posting annoyance. :)
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