To Be Continued...

"When a person is lucky enough to live inside a story, to live inside an imaginary world, the pains of this world disappear. For as long as the story goes on, reality no longer exists." 

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

I found this quote earlier today and thought it would easily prompt a post. I then looked further into the context of the quote and saw that it was a maxim concluding a delightful anecdote about Austrian writer Franz Kafka. In the story, Kafka is consoling a young girl in the park who had just lost her doll. I will get more in-depth with this later, but anyways, he tells her a story about the doll to distract the girl from her loss. This description doesn't really justify the aforementioned delightful-ness , but I promise it will seem a lot more charming when I delve into it later. 

My first reaction after hearing this story in a work of fiction was to check on the accuracy of the story. It was in my search immediately after that I found the written account of Dora Diamant. Diamant was not only the last romantic interest of Kafka, but more importantly, a first-hand witness of this uncharacteristically tender moment  for Kafka. Reading through her portrayal of the event, it was nearly identical to Auster's interpretation in Follies; if anything, his version is just watered-down in terms of detail. My personal favorite is his line, "He immediately starts inventing a story to explain what happened" replacing Diamant's "At once he invented a sufficiently plausible story to explain the disappearance of the doll...". I mean, seriously? Don't bullshit a bullshitter, Paul, and especially not this poorly. That's the thing about plagiarism: if you're going to plagiarize effectively, it can be more work than just making you're own opinion. Below are the links, you can judge for yourself on the severity of Auster's crime. FYI, the copyright for Kafka's Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant is 2003, while Auster's Follies is 2006.

The Brooklyn Follies- middle of page 138, starting at "All right. The story of the doll..."

Kafka's Last Love: The Mystery of Dora Diamant- middle of page 51, starting at "One day, as they were walking..."

So that put a hold on my post, and I also have to wait a couple days to get one of the Kafka biographies. The specific one I wanted was by the initial interviewer of Diamant, Marthe Robert, and neither the Wheaton College nor the Wheaton Public library had it in stock. But that library Inter-loan program is pretty badass; I'll get that book in a couple days. Honestly, this will  probably turn out to be more research than I did my two years at Wheaton combined. I'm just such a stubborn son of a bitch that when I am told I have to research, and of what I have to research about, I don't do it. Like at all. 

Really busy week at Shane's, but my hours will be back to normal this week. Unless, of course, Dustin gets that job at the Museum of Science and Industry, which I hope he does. Dustin's a sincerely good dude with that sense of moral reciprocity that makes him the ideal co-worker. He's old-school like that.

In other news, I started Infinite Jest by the inspiration for this particular blog's name, David Foster Wallace. I can already tell that I am going to love that book. However, it is so dense, literally and linguistically, that it's going to be more of a savoring than devouring, meaning that posts might be a tad fewer and far between. I know, I know, try to contain the wailing and gnashing of teeth, countless followers. Just understand that I am cheating on you with someone that really knows a thing or two about style. 

Sleigh Bells- Crown on the Ground

A truly epic cut by Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells. The distorted guitars are unrelenting throughout the entire song, ranging shrilly enough to match the notes of vocalist Alexis Krauss. I like thinking of "set that crown on the ground" as Krauss calling out the prom queen of her high school, and it seems to make sense with the album art and the other lyrics. The opening lines, "you never doubted it, you're so proud of it, you straight shouted it, there's no doubt of it, you couldn't care less," specifically remind me of those high school cheerleaders- you know the type. I probably would call my prom queen out too if I could recollect who won the award. I was pretty busy trying to not embarrass myself by dancing, yet also to avoid any attention being drawn to the fact that I was avoiding dancing. Let's just say the that thin line between the two was the only thing I was incompetently straddling that night.

I absolutely love the pedigree of this band: Derek E. Miller, former shredder for Poison the Well, and Krauss, former teenybopper for short-lived Rubyblue, met while Miller waited on Krauss and her mother's table, and the rest is history. Have you seen these two? They are just too fucking adorable. Anyways, this is off their debut album, Treats, check the download below.

download here