“Alphonso once told his great-nephew and me that everything was fading before our eyes, and that many of the loveliest of colours had already disappeared, or existed only where no one saw them, in the submarine gardens fathoms deep below the surface of the sea.”
― Austerlitz
― Austerlitz
“I suppose it is submerged realities that give to dreams their curious air of hyper-reality. But perhaps there is something else as well, something nebulous, gauze-like, through which everything one sees in a dream seems, paradoxically, much clearer. A pond becomes a lake, a breeze becomes a storm, a handful of dust is a desert, a grain of sulphur in the blood is a volcanic inferno. What manner of theater is it, in which we are at once playwright, actor, stage manager, scene painter and audience?”
― The Rings of Saturn
― The Rings of Saturn
“It seems to me then as if all the moments of our life occupy the same space, as if future events already existed and were only waiting for us to find our way to them at last, just as when we have accepted an invitation we duly arrive in a certain house at a given time.”
― Austerlitz
― Austerlitz
“...the darkness does not lift but becomes yet heavier as I think how little we can hold in mind, how everything is constantly lapsing into oblivion with every extinguished life, how the world is, as it were, draining itself, in that the history of countless places and objects which themselves have no power or memory is never heard, never described or passed on.”
― Austerlitz
― Austerlitz
The Mookse and the Gripes
— 1793 members
— last activity 8 hours, 59 min ago
Forum for spirited and convivial discussion of fiction from around the world, with particular though not exclusive focus on 20th and 21st century fict ...more
Forum for spirited and convivial discussion of fiction from around the world, with particular though not exclusive focus on 20th and 21st century fict ...more
Newest Literary Fiction
— 1330 members
— last activity 1 hour, 24 min ago
Discover and share your discovery of the most recently published literary fiction. If you love reading novels before anyone else decides they are good ...more
Discover and share your discovery of the most recently published literary fiction. If you love reading novels before anyone else decides they are good ...more
21st Century Literature
— 3191 members
— last activity 14 hours, 27 min ago
For people interested in keeping up with the modern literary classics. We will be reading fiction and fine literature from 2000 to present, with the i ...more
For people interested in keeping up with the modern literary classics. We will be reading fiction and fine literature from 2000 to present, with the i ...more
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
— 38597 members
— last activity 19 minutes ago
Hi there! SFFBC is a welcoming place for readers to share their love of speculative fiction through group reads, buddy reads, challenges, ...more
Hi there! SFFBC is a welcoming place for readers to share their love of speculative fiction through group reads, buddy reads, challenges, ...more
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
— 13958 members
— last activity 1 hour, 9 min ago
The world is made up of two kinds of people, first are those who love classics, the second are those who have not yet read a classic. Be bold and join ...more
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The world is made up of two kinds of people, first are those who love classics, the second are those who have not yet read a classic. Be bold and join ...more
John’s 2023 Year in Books
Take a look at John’s Year in Books. The good, the bad, the long, the short—it’s all here.
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