Pieter Ma . es
trails books
The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies
The Wide, Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies
John Langan

Have you noticed how disasters bring out the clichés in droves? Why is that? Is the trite and overused that consoling? Or is it that, even though the brain is short-circuiting, it still wants to grasp what’s going on, so it reaches for whatever tools are at hand, no matter how worn and rusted? Or is the language breaking down along with everything else?

Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself
I mean even—we were making jokes about Love Boat and Baywatch. These really—the really commercial, really reductive shows that we so love to sneer at. Are also tremendously compelling. Because the predictability in popular art, the really formulaic stuff, the stuff that makes no attempt to surprise or do anything artistic, is so profoundly soothing. And it even, even the densest or most tired viewer can see what’s coming. And it gives you a sense of order, that everything’s going to be all right, that this is a narrative that will take care of you, and won’t in any way challenge you. It’s like being wrapped in a chamois blanket and nestled against a big, generous tit, you know?
Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself

“Preparation,” the Lieutenant had said in Iraq, “is what ensures you will fuck up only eighty percent of what you are trying to do.”