Ninth Configuration / Twinkle Twinkle "Killer" Kane

by William Peter Blatty, Mark Kermode (Introduction)

Published in 1967 and then extensively revised in 1978, The Ninth Configuration is a fascinating look at madness, philosophy, and the nature of religious belief. Both The Ninth Configuration and Twinkle, Twinkle 'Killer' Kane have been out of print for decades, but this new edition combines both novels with a long essay by Mark Kermode.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Religion, Suspense, Classics, Literature

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

William Peter Blatty was an American writer and filmmaker. He wrote the novel The Exorcist (1971) and the subsequent screenplay version for which he won an Academy Award. Born and raised in New York City, Blatty received his bachelor's degree in English from the Georgetown University in 1950, and his master's degree in English literature from the George Washington University in 1954. He also wrote and directed the sequel "The Exorcist III". Some of his other notable works are the novels Elsewhere (2009), Dimiter (2010) and Crazy (2010).
Sourced from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Johann (jobis89) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You're convinced that God is dead because there's evil in the world - then why don't you think He's alive because of the goodness in the world?"

Set in a secluded castle that is now being used by the US government as a military asylum, The Ninth Configuration tells of a facility that houses 27 officers who have recently suffered from a mental break. Have the inmates truly lost their minds, are they faking it to avoid combat, or is something else going on? Colonel Vincent Kane is a Marine Corps psychiatrist who is called in to try and help uncover the cause of these bizarre obsessions, but he has his own demons to contend with.

Okay, as a pre-warning to anyone who may be interested in reading this book, it's a bit different and quite unusual compared to most other books I've read. The start in particular is pretty confusing, but once you get into it, it becomes very addictive. It's a relatively short book at only 170-odd pages, yet somehow Blatty manages to succeed with very impressive character development in such a small number of pages. It's funny, it's thought-provoking, but I don't think it's the kind of book you can read without the need to analyse the deeper themes. If you're looking for a light read, this isn't the book for you. Similarly, if you're looking for another horror book in the vein of The Exorcist, this ain't for you!

I didn't expect to be so moved by the events of this book, given the humour and, at times, ridiculous dialogue. Yet by the end I really felt like this book would leave a lasting impression. There's discussions about God and His existence, the presence of evil and good in the world, it's a very philosophical book. However, even with the strong philosophical themes, there's still a good, strong story here, with twists and turns I wasn't expecting.

I'm not sure I ever would have read this if it wasn't suggested to me by my buddy Cam (who I also buddy-read this with), so this is another scenario where I'm thankful to bookstagram for opening me up to books I might have otherwise missed! Definitely a unique reading experience and it gets 5 stars out of 5 from me!

[Eloy Cryptkeeper · Rating 3 out of 5]

<—Tal vez todo lo malvado no es más que frustración, una separación de aquello para lo que estábamos destinados —. Y tal vez la culpa solo es el dolor que sentimos por esa separación, esa soledad por estar lejos de Dios. Somos como un pez fuera del agua. Tal vez por eso los hombres enloquecen.>>

"Juana de Arco no estaba demente, ¡tenía muy buen oído!
no le pidas al corazón que explique sus motivos. ¡Los motivos son peligrosos!
Todos estamos mal asignados, de uno u otro modo, por el simple hecho de haber nacido"


La guerra era un asunto controversial y la mayoría de los hombres que presentaban dichos
trastornos se encontraban en batalla o estaban asignados para entrar en esta próximamente. Era inevitable sospechar que sus enfermedades eran fingidas.
Pero había problemas con esta teoría. Muchos de los hombres involucrados no se encontraban en una situación de conflicto, y aquellos que estuvieron en el campo de batalla habían sido condecorados por su valor. ¿Por qué eran todos oficiales? ¿Por qué la mayoría de los casos presentaban obsesiones? Una sospecha aún más oscura, proveniente del personal de la Casa Blanca, sugería que existía un grupo clandestino de oficiales cuyo propósito era desconocido, pero potencialmente peligroso. Al enfrentarse cara a cara con un enigma de tal magnitud, no era difícil contemplar ideas como esta.


Comienza con unos conceptos y frases geniales, sin apartarse de la formación jesuita del autor y en las que están presente en su obra de forma recurrente aspectos psicológicos, teológicos y filosóficos, aquí con otros matices. Presenta varios misterios y teorías conspirativas en los que parece que se va a encausar y ser el eje, pero No, toma otra dirección y se vuelve un caos narrativo, que resulta bastante tortuoso y te desangra la lectura de cada pagina, al punto de pensar si realmente Blatty fue el autor o fue Pazuzu.
Apela de una forma muy densa en el ejercicio de debatir lo real/irreal, la cordura/la locura. No te lleva a ningún lado mas que a desviarte .
Tengo la sospecha, por el hecho de que Blatty en su carrera fue mayormente un escritor de guiones, esta obra fue concebida y pensada con el objetivo de presentarla en la pantalla... Por lo tanto, de curioso y obstinado voy a darle una oportunidad a la película de 1980.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

**** 3.9 STARS ****

This is a very difficult book to review. On one hand it's full of interesting ideas, philosophy and complex characters. On the other, the story is lacking.

What I got out of this book was, and I could be very wrong, The Ninth Configuration is a tale about the theory of theology. It evokes lucid imagery and complex theory, thanks to Blatty's concise text and style. My favourite part of the book was the (one-sided) heated discussion between Colonel Kane and the former astronaut, Cutshaw, regarding the existence of God. The title of the book, Thr Ninth Configuration, alludes to the theory that the astronomical improbability of molecules coming together to form the earth, lends itself to the possibility of divine intervention. Self-sacrifice,  and the possible, unnoticed, selfish reasons behind self-sacrifice, also play a big part. There's so much more, despite the shortness of the book, but that's better to be experienced yourself.

Very interesting book, just doesn't do much as a narrative story. For those wanting to explore some similar themes, check out, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Shutter Island.

The 1980 film version, written and directed by Blatty, goes much heavier on the comedy, and succeeds thanks in part to the actors. The humour, which definitely exists in the book, tends to get lost of the page, for the most part. Considering the book feels like a play, due to the extensive use of it's excellent dialogue, I think the film version is the better way to experience The Ninth Configuration.

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best way I can describe what the hell I just read is: Ken Kesey's ONE FLEW OVER A CUCKOO'S NEST meet Joseph Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS. This baby is quite peculiar.

THE NINTH CONFIGURATION is somewhat of a comedy, but William Peter Blatty shrewdly uses the comic effect as a distraction from the real nature of his novel, which you have to find your way to. This book is short, but it is deep and moving and there are only a handful of conversions through it that actually matter. The rest is a lot of fun, but it's part of the maze you have to navigate.

Perhaps my only knock on this book is that it could've taken itself more seriously and crafted a greater context for its characters, but it's kind of great the way it is, to be honest. THE NINTH CONFIGURATION is far from being overthought and it's part of its charm.

[Stacia]

It's a short book & I read almost half of it. But, I just wasn't feeling it. Too much over-the-top crazy, I guess to set the scenes, but it was making me crazy to read about it, lol.

[Richard Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane, later re-titled The Ninth Configuration tells the headache inducing story of a military psychologist who is sent to a military nut house to deal with some military psychos who were supposed to go into space, but suddenly became crazy.

This is a tough book to rate because it is riddled with good and bad. The overall story is painfully predictable with a couple unexpected twists. But, at the same time the author does a great job of explaining the thought process of the characters so that the obvious storyline feels crafted with unpredictable motives.

There is some good philosophy in here. I am not one to highlight books, but I am considering going back to highlight a few things. Metaphors, symbols, and plain philosophical conversations pop up constantly.

And the book was written incredibly well. Vocabulary, sentence structure, pacing, tone, tempo... Amazing work. The author is a master in this sense.

But, the book lacked a lot at the same time. The intro chapter is a throw away designed to introduce you to the insanity. Then the story is introduced rather quickly. All the characters are identified and the plot is set into motion. Then we are presented with 100 - 150 pages of pointless conversation. It is disposable to the story. It is only used to continuously hammer in the reality of the situation.

Then the last 50 - 100 pages are back to moving the plot along. It reads quick at the end, but it takes a bit to get there.

My only other complaint is the excessive dialogue. There is little action to move along the story and the narrator depends 100% on the conversations between characters to explain anything except visual details.

Overall, it is a subpar story with some pleasant surprises written by a superb author that utilized an annoying narrator in a book that I can only describe as mediocre.

[Jorge Soto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una novela muy al estilo el exorcista, donde existe una confrontación, la cual no puede ser solucionada simplemente por psicólogos o doctores.
Antes de iniciar la lectura, pensé que se trataría de una novela de terror, ya que la sinopsis del libro le da tintes bastante lúgubres, pero estaba equivocado.
En principio la lectura me resultó bastante entretenida e incluso divertida.

"cuando de pronto su copiloto reportó una falla hidráulica , después de lo cual Nammack se levantó en silencio, se quitó su casco de altitud y dijo tranquilamente y pleno de confianza:
- Esto parece un trabajo para Superman.
El copiloto tomo las control de la aeronave. Nammack fue hospitalizado..."

Pero ya de tanta plática de locos sin sentido a lo largo de la lectura me resultó aburrido (que bueno que es un libro corto) ya que la esencia de la historia no avanza mucho.
En cuanto al final me resultó bastante romántico (no atendiendo al concepto de amor) y bastante parecido al final del exorcista.
En resumen, en mi más humilde opinión, el autor no supo aprovechar bien la historia, ya que existen bastante elementos que bien podría poner los pelos de punta (mansión oculta en lo profundo del bosque, neblina, 27 oficiales ex marines con trastorno mental, un solo psicólogo).

[Davis Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could very well be a five star on a reread. A furnace of chaotic, confusing, stressful character interactions and events that eventually has a sort of “big bang” where everything is made clear. When the dust settles you are left with one of the most beautiful reflections of faith and humanity I’ve read in recent years. This certainly won’t click for everyone, but it’s a quick read. If you enjoyed The Exorcist and Legion then I would give this a read as it serves as another chapter of Blatty’s examination of faith and making sense of the world we live in.

[I.M. Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a stillness I experience on completing a great book that defies description. For some time, I don’t feel like reading again. It happened to me after I finished 1984, with the Road, and a handful of books between. Now it’s happened again with the Ninth Configuration.

Readers who seek popcorn are bound to be disappointed. If you only examine the dialogue’s surface, much of it would probably appear unstructured, perhaps even boring. For such readers the action probably comes too late, and at too much cost to their time.

But here is the genius of the writing. There are many threads that swim just below the surface. Like the tension that builds in the madmens’ rantings, as Cutshaw’s efforts to avoid the truth draw him closer to that which he refuses to face.

As an atheist, a few times I became agitated. It seemed I’d slipped into a sermon. But then I remembered how puzzled I have always been by conservatives who respond emotionally to science, and decided I was being hypocritical. So I allowed myself to be drawn back into the narrative. And I was glad I did.

Beyond discussions of God, and passages that may, or may not have been intended as a missionary’s polemic, there were many engaging philosophical questions. These questions are sharpest when Blatty expressed them in a dichotomous form. It’s difficult to explain without spoilers, hence my vagueness. There are three examples that will sit with me for a long time. The use of violence to express compassion (during and following the bar fight), using a ‘mad man’s’ insight to cure insanity, and reaching out to another through suicide.

There were a few instances where I experienced the writing as a little heavy handed. Its hard for me to decide if that reflected my cynicism, or the novel. I feel the most profound points are often made obliquely, when the reader is forced to think, to grapple with ambiguity, and draw the connections themselves. However, for the most part, subtlety prevailed, and the few narrative intrusions were small and insufficient to detract from the work.

Many times I literally laughed out loud. The writing is just that witty. On that point, I have rated other books five stars that wouldn’t hold a candle to this book. But here is where the rating system is flawed. If you read a comic, then you are not going to judge it against Tolstoy, you are going to judge it against other comics. If you read this book as a psychological thriller, one aimed squarely at intelligent adult readers, then it deserves five stars. If you judged it against classics, then IMHO, it gets a very solid four stars. But it hasn’t had time to fill that shelf space yet. So its five stars from me!

[Nate Dawg · Rating 3 out of 5]

William Peter Blatty wrote my favorite horror novel, The Exorcist. In that book he not only frightened me but also made me think about life and death through one of his main characters philosophical dialogue. In Twinkle, Twinkle Killer Kane he does much of the same to a lesser extent. In the beginning this book had me questioning what was going on as it appears all the characters are insane. Later I was laughing at the madness happening and in the end it left me feeling sad. This is not necessarily a horror novel but it is an enjoyable read.

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 Sterne

[Lloyd Grady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting a scary story, because of this author's claim to fame, 'The Exorcist'. The first hundred pages consisted of wacky and goofy antics, from a cast of drastically eccentric characters. All of which is consistent with the setting. However, It was an overwhelming amount of shenanigans for me. And the characters seemed to be a slight misrepresentation of the affliction of mental illness. 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest', by Ken Kesey, frequently came to mind as a book I'd rather be reading. I was considering putting the book down until, around page one-hundred, a tenable story began to appear. The story was much more engaging than the confusing first half of the book. I would recommend borrowing this book from the library. It has some intriguing philosophical dialogues and entertaining hi-jinks, although patience might be required.

[Bess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clínica para oficiais que estão loucos? Ou eles estão fingindo? Ou alguma força sobrenatural??

Todos os diálogos dos internos são tão bem construídos e a forma como o "novo" psiquiatra lida com eles é tão compreensiva e nos começamos a nos perguntar o que está acontecendo pq o autor nos faz dar voltas e voltas até que BOOMM você ter uma noção que algo realmente está errado. O autor constrói uma introdução que nos deixa de boca aberta com o quanto o ser humano pode ser maquiavélico e sorrateiro.

Confesso que fiquei bem triste principalmente com o Kane que tinha uma condição complicada e talvez o que aconteceu fosse a única saída para ele que decorreu na libertação de todos-Cutshaw(seu louco/fingidor). A minha única pergunta é sim ele se lembrou ou não do irmão.

[Carly Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

La novena configuración es un libro con demasiados matices; veamos, la historia y la trama son una genialidad así como los personajes, pero llega un punto en que el autor no sabe como desarrollarlos, cae en confusiones y sinsentidos. Los personajes son bastante interesantes pero no los explota de manera adecuada.

Profundiza en aspectos donde no era necesario y deja cabos sueltos en los más importantes. En la parte final del libro cambia la trama y muestra un desenlace bastante forzado que daba para mucho más.

No me deja mal sabor de boca pero si con ganas de más.

[isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

does anyone get a little bit of a gay vibe?

[Kristoph Kosicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book I've read by Blatty. I honestly don't get it. It had moments I was certainly able to latch on to though. I always appreciate how Blatty reflects upon God and religion in his stories and his characters all have their own interpretations of religious themes. Probably one of my favorite things about this book. But I'm just not sure how this one works overall as a complete story.

I wouldn't classify it as horror. So it's categorized awkwardly, as I'm not sure who the target audience would be for this one either.

It was a short and enjoyable read though.

[Rafael Isidoro · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐
Hmmm. Depois de O Exorcista se tornar um dos meus livros favoritos eu esperava mais dessa leitura.
É um livro ok, tem uns diálogos que são maravilhosos, mas fora isso, n me prendeu tanto assim, mas serviu pra distrair ^^

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5*

[Mari Molero · Rating 4 out of 5]

pensando pensamentos

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

TTKK is a truly remarkable book, albeit one with very little intrinsic value. It's about Colonel Hudson Kane, who comes to the Bela Slovik mansion as a famous psychologist tasked with "curing" its nutty Air Force inmates, among whom is the astronaut who flaked out prior to America's first mission to the moon. Kane, however, doesn't much act like a psychologist and Cutshaw, the astronaut, doesn't appear to be entirely batty. Things aren't exactly what they seem.

Before he wrote The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty wrote three comic novels, this one being the last and, I can only hope (not having read the others), the worst. Yet I feel pretty confident in saying it is the most interesting of the three.

What makes it bad are the characters: they're all insane. Or, worse, they're all pretending to be. Either way, they act like fools. It's a particularly lazy brand of comedy that finds its humor in absurdity for its own sake. One character continually hammers the walls of the mansion to make their atoms pay for not allowing him to pass through without benefit of a door while another spends his time writing (and eventually casting) the plays of Shakespeare...for dogs. Oh, Blatty manages some funny lines along the way -- one about whether or not it would be considered bad form to cast a Great Dane as Hamlet -- but that's easy enough when you can tailor the situation to the lines, rather than the other way around. Nor does it help that, this being an irreverent, vaguely anti-war novel (it was published in 1966), the brass, including a Senator, are portrayed as idiotic madmen.

What makes it interesting, though, is this: it is one of the most blatant blueprints for a later work you will ever read. Not that it was intended that way. But all the obsessions that led Blatty to write The Exorcist are present in TTKK -- from the simple love of movies to the coexistence of evil and a benevolent God; everything, in fact, including a discussion of possession and exorcism. Readers of The Exorcist will note that Blatty even uses an astronaut in both.

The religious and philosophical discussions of Kane and Cutshaw are the meat of the book (and if that juxtaposition, of absurd comedy and religious exploration, seems odd, you're right, it is), but there's too little of it to make a decent meal. Especially when the rest is fluff -- meringue minus the pie.

[Stephen Feltner · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for a Blatty novel that rivals Exorcist or Legion, sorry folks, but you will have to keep looking. If you want a quick but engaging read with some odd twists and a thought provoking ending, well this is your book. Here lay the story, character, and concept seeds of the Exorcist. It's almost as if Blatty used this book as a testing ground for the ideas he would later explore in his best work. How can a just God and evil coexist? Can a person be good if they have committed bad deeds? Are we disgusting base animals or angels waiting to get our wings? Who decides all this and when?.
Hudson Kane is an obvious precursor to the stoic Father Karras and his actions at the books end echo the resolve of the boxer-priest.There are no other analogs to Exorcist characters, but we do get an asylum full of Air Force officers that may or may not be faking insanity, a Gothic mansion owned by the widow of a horror movie star, and a character in the form of Cutshaw that is deserving of his own book.
If you are a fan of the Exorcist, Blatty, or just interesting novels in general, do yourself a favor and give this one a read.

[Viji (Bookish endeavors) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second reading of the author. His first book is something I still adore,so I had high expectations of this book. And it wasn't out of place. This book presents an interesting journey into the human mind,and so at places we get much confused. At times,I even felt irritated. But patience always present good results. And it did in this case too. The second twist was something that came out of blue. Never did I imagine that Kane would act in such a way. As a story,this looks better to me than 'the exorcist',but it's really difficult to outscore it in the hold it has over the reader's mind.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Although sometimes the craziness just seemed too much to follow, stay with it. The themes explored in this book are overwhelming-it gives you so much to think about in so many ways. He took several concepts and examined them from all angles-things we all think and wonder about. I keep thinking about this book long after I put it down.

[Violeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

No era lo que esperaba pero me gustó, buen final. Al principio no le veía ni pies ni cabeza, iba en el 50% y todavía no sabía de qué iba, nada mas sabía que todos estaban locos!!! pero el ultimo 30% hizo que me interesara mucho pero me dejaron con ganas de mas. No es de terror, no sabría que clasificación tendría pero terror no es.

[Hannah]

"What did you say? I didn't get that," said Fell, looking up.
Kane paused in his stacking, his face in shadow. "Before Pearl Harbor, I thought I was going to be a priest. We're all miscast, one way or another. Just being born into this place..." His voice trailed off.
Fell waited, alert and intensely observant; his antic disposition had vanished. A keen intelligence shone from his eyes, a sense of caring. "Yes?" he prodded.
"I don't know," said Kane. His face was still hidden. "I think about sickness; earthquakes; wars." He lowered his head. "Painful death. The death of children. Children with cancer. If these are
just part of our natural environment, why do they horrify us so?
Why do we think of them as evil unless... we were programmed”—he felt for the words—"for someplace . . . else." His voice seemed far away. "Maybe conscience is our memory of how things were. Just suppose that we haven't evolved; that we've really been going backwards... more and more alienated from—" Here Kane stopped.
"From what?"
"Psychiatrists aren't supposed to say 'God.'"
"Betchyourass; it's going down on your record. Keep going."
"Maybe everything evil is a frustration, a separation from what we were meant for," Kane continued. "And maybe guilt is just the pain of that separation, that-that loneliness for God. We're fish out of water, Fell; maybe that's why men go mad." For a time there was silence. When Kane spoke again, his voice was a whisper. "I don't think evil grows out of madness: I think madness grows out of evil."


“ . . . Animals are innocent. Why should they suffer?"
"Why should men?"
"Ah, come on, that's a setup that you've got answers for. Like pain makes people noble and how could a man be more than a talking, chess-playing panda bear if there weren't at least the possibility of suffering. But what about animals, Hud? Does pain make turkeys noble? Why is all of creation based on dog eat dog, and the little fish are eaten by the big fish, animals screaming in pain, all creation an open wound, a fucking slaughterhouse?"
"Maybe things weren't like that at first."
"Oh, really?"
"Maybe 'Original Sin' is just a metaphor for some horrible genetic mutation in all living things a long, long time ago. Maybe we caused those mutations somehow: a nuclear war that involved the whole planet, perhaps. I don't know. But perhaps that's what we mean by the ‘Fall’, and why innocent babies could be said to have inherited Adam’s sin. Genetics. We’re mutations, monsters, if you will.”
"Then why doesn't Foot just tell us that? Why in Christ can't he simply make an appearance on top of the Empire State Building and give us the word? Then we'd all be good! What the fuck is the problem? Is Foot running short on tablets of stone? My Uncle Eddie owns a quarry; I can get them for him wholesale."
"You're asking for miracles," Kane observed.
"I'm asking for Foot to either shit or get off the pot! Diarrhetic strange gods have been waiting in line!"
"But—"
"A busload of orphans went over a cliff today! I heard it on the news."
"Maybe God can't interfere in our affairs."
"Yes, so I've noticed." Cutshaw sat down on the couch.
"Maybe God can't interfere because to do so would spoil his plan for something in the future," Kane appealed. There was a caring in his voice and his eyes. "Some evolution of man and the world," he continued, "that's so unimaginably beautiful that it's worth all the tears and all the pain of every suffering thing that ever lived; and maybe when we get to that moment in time we'll look back and say, 'Yes; yes, I'm glad that it was so!'"
"I say it's spinach and to hell with it."
Kane leaned forward. "You're convinced that God is dead because of the evil in the world?"
"Correct."
"Then why don't you think he's alive because of the goodness in the world?"
"What goodness?"
"Everywhere! It's all around us!"
this discussion."
"After an answer so zestfully fatuous, I feel I should terminate this discussion.”

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

For such a short book, this one took a lot of time and effort to finish. Too much crazy, sometimes it felt like I was reading a word salad, which I guess could have been meant to make the insanity feel more real, but it was just tiresome. Maybe I was not in the correct mood, but it was very difficult to try to follow and understand all the philosophical aspects that most people seem to praise in the comments, since almost all of them where thrown in the word salad.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book!

[Fabian Broicher · Rating 5 out of 5]

‚„Wir sind alle Fehlbesetzungen“, murmelte Kane.
„Was sagten Sie? Ich hab‘s nicht verstanden“, hakte Fell nach und blickte hoch.
Kane hörte mit dem Bücherstapeln auf. Sein Gesicht lag im Schatten. „Vor Pearl Harbor dachte ich noch, dass ich Priester werden würde. Wir sind alle Fehlbesetzungen, auf die eine oder andere Art. Allein dadurch, dass man in diese Welt geboren wird …“ Er brachte den Satz nicht zu Ende.
Fell wartete, alarmiert und äußerst aufmerksam; seine Albernheit war verschwunden. In seinen Augen tauchten eine scharfe Intelligenz und auch eine Art Mitgefühl auf. „Ja?“, drängte er.
„Ich weiß nicht.“ Kanes Gesicht war immer noch verborgen. „Ich denke an Krankheiten, Erdbeben, Kriege.“ Er senkte den Kopf. „Schmerzhaftes Sterben. Sterbende Kinder. Kinder, die Krebs bekommen. Wenn das alles nur natürliche Bestandteile unserer Umgebung sind, warum sind wir dann so entsetzt darüber? Warum empfinden wir diese Dinge als etwas Böses, wenn wir nicht … wenn wir nicht dafür geschaffen sind …“ Er suchte nach den passenden Worten. „An einem … anderen Ort zu sein.“ Seine Stimme hörte sich weit entfernt an. „Vielleicht ist unser Gewissen die Erinnerung an etwas, das einmal war. Wenn man annimmt, dass wir uns nicht weiterentwickelt haben; dass wir eigentlich rückwärtsgehen … uns mehr und mehr entfernen von …“ Hier brach er ab.
„Wovon?“
„Als Psychiater sollte man das Wort ‚Gott‘ nicht in den Mund nehmen.“
„Aber hallo; das gibt mit Sicherheit 'nen Eintrag in Ihre Akte. Aber reden Sie weiter.“
„Vielleicht ist alles Böse eine Frustration, eine Trennung von dem, was unsere Bestimmung ist“, fuhr Kane fort. „Und vielleicht ist Schuld nur der Schmerz dieser Trennung, dieser … dieser Einsamkeit ohne Gott. Wir sind wie Fische auf dem Trockenen, Fell; vielleicht werden Menschen deshalb verrückt.“
Für eine Weile herrschte Schweigen. Als Kane weitersprach, war seine Stimme nur noch ein Flüstern. „Ich denke nicht, dass das Böse aus dem Wahnsinn stammt. Ich glaube, der Wahnsinn entsteht aus dem Bösen.“‘

[Natt Mazzoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Por que eu, uma ateia, amo tanto um livro que é essencialmente propaganda cristã?
Cala boca, eu sou vasta, contenho multidões

[Brenda Motta · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐