Fresher Hells

Deeply Moving Encounters With Great Literature:

The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - that you’d thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you’ve never met, maybe even someone long dead. It’s as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.

-Alan Bennett

Beautiful. And so true, Mr. Bennett. In fact, I had that magical experience just this morning:

The light did him harm, but not as much as looking at things did; he resolved, having done it once, never to move his eyeballs again. A dusty thudding in his head made the scene before him beat like a pulse.

His mouth had been used as a latrine by some small creature of the night and then as its mausoleum. During the night, too, he’d somehow been on a cross-country run and then been expertly beaten up by secret police. He felt bad.

-Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim

As I sit here, squarely in the eye of an epic hangover, I am deeply touched by Amis’s description of the morning after a night of excessive merrymaking, which so perfectly expresses how I’m feeling at this moment. It’s as if a hand has come out, taken mine, and passed me an Advil, some mouthwash, & a sickbag.