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Finally, the misfortune can be brought about also by the mere attitude of the persons to one another through their relations. Thus there is no need either of a colossal error, or of an unheard-of accident, or even of a character reaching the bounds of human possibility in wickedness, but characters as they usually are in a moral regard in circumstances that frequently occur, are so situated with regard to one another that their position forces them, knowingly and with their eyes open, to do one another the greatest injury, without any of them being entirely in the wrong. This last kind of tragedy seems to me to be far preferable to the other two; for it shows us the greatest misfortune not as an exception, not as something brought about by rare circumstances or by monstrous characters, but as something that arises easily and spontaneously out of the actions and characters of men, as something almost essential to them, and in this way it is brought terribly near to us... We see the greatest suffering brought about by entanglements whose essence could be assumed even by our own fate, and by actions that perhaps even we might be capable of committing, and so we cannot complain of injustice. Then, shuddering, we feel ourselves already in the midst of hell. In this last kind of tragedy the working out is of the greatest difficulty; for the greatest effect has to be produced in it with the least use of means and occasions for movement, merely by their position and distribution.

Para a minha pessoa favorita, o autor favorito dela. Com medo dela já ter - mas arriscando - pra combinar com nossa história.

MerMay is almost over, and I haven't drawn anything new, but I have an old picture of mer-Lucian. 🫧

🐲 Dragons of Light edited by Orson Scott Card

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟/5

Thirteen authors and thirteen illustrators join to bring you dragons, in all their bright and terribly variety, collected by Orson Scott Card. Among them include authors like George R.R. Martin paired with illustrator Alicia Austin; Jane Yolen paired with artist Terri Windling; and more!

Fun fact! I LOVE George R.R. Martin’s story “The Ice Dragon”, which comes in many varieties as a children’s story. But the original story was first published in this collection, and had some moments not suitable for children. I found that I like the edited, children’s version better because I thought the original rape and violence wasn’t necessary to complete the story.

Anyway! As I read through this collection, I found that only 4 out of 13 stories were worth giving more than 3 stars to. Most of the stories felt mediocre or like the dragons played a minimal part, which was disappointing. The 4 stories I really enjoyed were “The Ice Dragon” by George R.R. Martin (obviously); “As Above, So Below” by John M. Ford; “Cockfight” by Jane Yolen; and “Dragon Touched” by David Smeds.

“As I learned more and more about the workings of creativity through watching myself and my students, I realized that my main function as a teacher was to destroy the bindings attached to the idea of creation. It was to have people recover their natural instinct to play, to invent, to listen to their intuition.”

I last read...

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

what I wanted: a book that really makes me think

what I got: an interesting thought experiment