You shall know our screaming clouds

[squirmelia]

'I parted the pakasandra leaves to see if there were weeds beginning underneath. The dirt was so black and moist. She watered it often. And all the while I was caressing every wall of my head. I was wandering around my head, teary with joy, wistful even, loving the surfaces, the many rooms, the old rooms and empty rooms.'
..
'-- But slowly these empty rooms are filled. Filled with things so wretched and brutal that you could not have conceived of them at thirteen. And soon you find there are too many rooms, too many occupied rooms, too few empty ones. I walk through my corridors and I open doors and now it's hard to find a room unoccupied or not full of screaming clouds.'

-Dave Eggers, 'You shall know our Velocity'

Comments

Re: Eggers

[shawn-club.livejournal.com]

Sounded very much like the slogan for MIGHT magazine in Heartbreaking work, is it a good read?

Re: Eggers

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that I haven't read Heartbreaking work. Well, I've read the first chapter, online, and it seemed far too gritty for me. Sure, I like my books real, but that seemed somehow overboard, like when you read someone's diary and you feel somehow nauseated by their state, because you know it's a vile state to be in, a very human state to be in, and that you've been there many times before and you wish you hadn't. I've meant to read it, I've hoped for its appearance in the library, but it just hasn't emerged. I've held it in bookshops, quite a number of times, but still never quite bought it.

I like Dave though, I love McSweeney's, so that's why I'm reading the new book. I'll probably buy Heartbreaking work when I finish YSKOV. I like YSKOV, but it hasn't blown me away. Not yet, anyway, but I shall have to wait until I've read more to give my verdict. It has pictures.

Re: Eggers

[shawn-club.livejournal.com]

Pictures are nice. Heartbreaking work picks up significantly in the 2nd half. It's like Eggers flipped a switch and the characters become likeable and humaine.

Re: Eggers

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

I shall definitely read it sometime.