Kathleen found The Tale of the Unknown Island by José Saramago (translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa; illustrated by Peter Sis) at the library and blazed through it. “You’ve got to read this,” she said. And I did. At 51 very small pages, it was a quick read. But it’s one of those stories that could take a lifetime to fully appreciate.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is quoted as saying “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” This is as true in life as it is in writing. And so it is with Saramago’s tale. What I appreciate most about the telling of the story is that Saramago seems to have crafted each sentence to say no more or less than it should, and all of it in an engaging, run-on prose style that pushes the story forward, a style that is both humorous and sensible at the same time, and he marries that with a story about a protagonist who is on a simple, yet profound, quest.
You, sir, are only interested in islands that are known, And unknown ones too, once they’re known, Perhaps this one won’t let itself be known, Then I won’t give you the boat, Yes, you will. When they heard these words, uttered with such calm confidence, the would-be supplicants at the door for favors, whose impatience had been growing steadily since this conversation had begun, decided to intervene in the man’s favor, more out of a desire to get rid of him than out of any sense of solidarity, and so they started shouting, Give him the boat, give him the boat.
I feel like this sometimes.
I despise New Year’s resolutions and I never write mine down which means I will probably write at length about them here and change my mind several times about which ones are most important and which ones I can actually do. When is it too late to change your mind about a resolution? Officially, that is.
On second thought, forget what I just said. How wimpy is it to try to accomplish only what you know you can do? The answer is “very wimpy.”
I, Harry, hereby resolve (probably) (okay, no, really) to do the following in 2006 because they sound like good ideas and they’re all cool and introspective and stuff and I’m 32 and life just keeps passing me by, man:
- To the best of my ability I will make informed decisions and choices that improve the quality of life for all involved, including what I buy, wear, support, say, eat, and in general, do;
- I will get that business launched, people!
- I will take my wife out on more dates because she’s awesome, she’s so Kath-a-leen;
- I will eat and exercise and be a good steward of my body because it’s the right thing to do, not because of what people might start saying about my butt, which would be something like, “Wow, that’s primo booty, my friend,” which is a nice compliment but hardly a long-term motivator;
- I will bike from Seattle to Portland in a 2-day event;
- I will try not to be so inverted, or introverted, either one;
- I will spend more time reading than watching;
- I will spend more time listening than speaking;
- I will spend more time doing than talking about it;
- I will learn to play that Phil Keaggy song at full speed; same goes for that Eric Johnson song;
- I will live in the light;
- When I fail I will remember that I am human, imperfect, forgiven, and loved, and that I should get up and do it again;
- I will remember to give that same grace to others;
- I will have at least 10 goals. (Check that one off.)
Dawkins:
“If it’s true that it causes people to feel despair, that’s tough. It’s still the truth. [blank] doesn’t owe us condolence or consolation; [blank] doesn’t owe us a nice warm feeling inside. If it’s true, it’s true, and you’d better live with it.”
[via Kottke]
Now, for 10 points, is he talking about the existence of God or the non-existence of God?
I happen to agree with Donald Miller’s take on the issue of arguing over the existence of God. In Blue Like Jazz, he says:
“My most recent faith struggle is not one of intellect. I don’t really do that anymore. Sooner or later you just figure out there are some guys who don’t believe in God and they can prove He doesn’t exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove He does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it’s about who is smarter, and honestly I don’t care.”
