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James Michael
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“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for? So that it will make us happy, as you write? Good Lord, we would be happy precisely if we had no books, and the kind of books that make us happy are the kind we could write ourselves if we had to. But we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.”
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“In essence there are no characters in my story. There is love. And it acted-through persons.”
― The Story of Sonechka
― The Story of Sonechka
“I've lived through such terrible times and there are people who live through much worse. But you see them living anyway. When they're more spirit than body, more sores than skin, when they're burned and in agony, when flies lay eggs in the corners of the eyes of their children - they live. Death usually has to take life away. I don't know if that's just the animal. I don't know if it's not braver to die, but I recognize the habit; the addiction to being alive. So we live past hope. If I can find hope anywhere, that's it, that's the best I can do. It's so much not enough. It's so inadequate. But still bless me anyway. I want more life.”
― Angels in America
― Angels in America
James Michael’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at James Michael’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
1,747 books
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32 friends
19 books
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2 friends
841 books
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48 friends
15,734 books
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900 friends
2,329 books
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235 friends
447 books
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20 friends
292 books
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142 friends
353 books
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100 friends
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