“ He asked if the girl who was blind in one eye had married. They said no. That night he went to see her, without changing his clothes or washing, despite his mother’s pleas that he at least shave. When the girl saw him standing at the door to her house, she recognized him instantly. The one-legged man saw her too, looking out the window, and he raised a hand in a formal salute, even a stiff salute, though it could also have been interpreted as a way of saying such is life. From that moment on he told whoever would listen that in his town everyone was blind and the one-eyed girl was queen. ”
Robert Bolano, 2666
“ … as they delivered kick after kick, shove Islam up your ass, which is where it belongs, this one is for Salman Rushdie (an author neither happened to think was much good but whose mention seemed pertinent), this one is for the feminists in Paris (will you fucking stop, Norton was shouting), this one is for the feminists of New York (you’re going to kill him, shouted Norton), this one is for the ghost of Valerie Solanas, you son of a bitch, and on and on, until he was unconscious and bleeding from every orifice in the head, except the eyes. ”
Roberto Bolano - 2666, p. 74
This book is surprisingly hilarious in parts (wait for the context if you’re not there yet). I’ve laughed out loud/giggled out loud probably half a dozen times thus far.
“ She didn’t draw up long- or medium-term plans and throw herself wholeheartedly into their execution. She had none of the attributes of ambition. When she suffered, her pain was clearly visible, and when she was happy, the happiness she felt was contagious. ”
2666, Roberto Bolano.
