Part One: The Long Hall The tremor starts in my right thumb on the third hour. I'm copying a land dispute from Henan — characters I don't read, just reproduce. My brush moves right to left, column after column. The tremor makes the vertical strokes waver. I flex my fingers. Count the completed folios. Nineteen. … Continue reading The Ink Debt
Tag: survival
Tragedy vs. Comedy Modes
As Brown notes, Meeker argues that Western Civilization is mostly founded on the “tragic mode,” inspired by the great tragedies in which a “larger-than-life character attempts to bend the world to his (and it’s always his) image.” The character’s success “is also his undoing,” and tragedies end in bloodshed, death, and a funeral of some kind. Our … Continue reading Tragedy vs. Comedy Modes
