A stranger in his own home

"He could see through the crack of the door that the gas was turned on in the living-room, but while usually at this time his father made a habit of reading the afternoon newspaper in a loud voice to his mother and occasionally to his sister as well, not a sound was now to be heard. Well, perhaps his father had recently given up this habit of reading aloud, which his sister had mentioned so often in conversation and in her letters. But there was the same silence all around, although the flat was certainly not empty of occupants. 'What a quiet life our family has been leading,' said Gregor to himself, and as he sat there motionless staring into darkness he felt great pride in the fact that he had been able to provide such a life for his parents and sister in such a fine flat."

Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis, p.20

The image is another untitled Gregory Crewdson photograph.

metastages and more...

Interesting description of part of the process we have been, in my case unwittingly, undergoing thus far:

"...characters are not born like people, of woman; they are born of a situation, a sentence, a metaphor containing in a nutshell a basic human possibility that the author thinks no-one else has discovered or said something essential about"

And, interestingly, tying in to the Invisible Cities discussion we had, the next line is as follows:

"But isn't it true that an author can only write about himself?"

The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera, p215


Also, I know you're uncomfortable with the 'All the world's a stage' concept that has been coming up both in class and in our discussions, and I am aware that we're sailing a little close to the wind with the cast idea, but I thought you might appreciate this nonetheless:

'A question is like a knife that slices through the stage backdrop and gives us a look at what lies hidden behind it.'
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera, p247

All the world's a meta-stage, perhaps?


The image is an untitled Gregory Crewdson photograph referencing the character of Ophelia