“Because memory and sensations are so uncertain, so biased, we always rely on a certain reality-call it an alternate reality-to prove the reality of events. To what extent facts we recognize as such really are as they seem, and to what extent these are facts merely because we label them as such, is an impossible distinction to draw. Therefore, in order to pin down reality as reality, we need another reality to relativize the first. Yet that other reality requires a third reality to serve as its grounding. An endless chain is created within our consciousness, and it is the very maintenance of this chain that produces the sensation that we are actually here, that we ourselves exist.”
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
“I was always attracted not by some quantifiable, external beauty, but by something deep down, something absolute. Just as some people have a secret love for rainstorms, earthquakes, or blackouts, I liked that certain undefinable something directed my way by members of the opposite sex. For want of a better word, call it magnetism. Like it or not, it’s a kind of power that snares people and reels them in.”
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
“My God, ma'am, you're so pretty I'd walk ten miles barefooted on a freezing morning to stand in your shit.”
― The Abortion
― The Abortion
“But you know Hajime, some feelings cause us pain because they remain.”
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
“Lots of different ways to live and lots of different ways to die. But in the end that doesn't make a bit of difference. All that remains is a desert.”
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
― South of the Border, West of the Sun
Esin’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Esin’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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