Whitney FI’s Reviews > The Book Censor's Library > Status Update

He liked it well enough, but here must be a bigger library somewhere, even bigger than Victory Mansions, or the Ministry of Truth. A library that was dizzying, eternal, and who presence he might -with a little luck- lose consciousness, just like the characters in the novels he read, when they encountered the Absolute. And it dawned on him then: a library was the closest thing humanity had to the idea of an Absolute.

He felt smothered. Contained. Imagination would always find miniscule pores in the delicate skin of reality - he knew that now. It would squeeze its way through to the surface. He tried to ignore the facet that he'd just come up with a completely mad metaphor, and then he remembered the cat's words: we're all mad here.

The little one didn't seem interested in playing with other children. She would speak to stuffed animals, trees, ants, fairies, spiders, bedbugs, stray cats, goldfinches, and wolves. Any kind of creature - real or imaginary - as long as it wasn't a human being.

He remembered somewhat foggily that the books had thrown his wife out. But was that yesterday or yesteryear? Her spot in the bed was empty. Somewhere in his memory, he recalled that she had lefty the bed, her face red with rage, because of a forgotten book under the covers that had knocked her elbow. How accurate this was he wasn't entirely sure; more likely than not, the book had bitten her.