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I asked her where
she lived, what she did,
whether she went to the pictures a lot. I
told her that I worked in the mines, that
it was hard work, that I didn't have much
time off. She told me that she worked in
a factory and lived in a dormitory, that
she had to be in by eleven, that she went
to the pictures a lot because she didn't
like to go to dances. I told her I'd be
glad to go to the pictures with her any-
time she was free. She said she'd rather
go alone. I asked her if it was because
life was so depressing. She said it was.
I told her I wasn't particularly enjoying
it either.
Milan Kundera from THE JOKE
STUPEFACTION: I
won't accept definition number
one OR definition number two in a cheap dictionary.
Stupefy; intransitive verb meaning 1. to dull the
sense of. 2. to overwhelm with amazement.
°
Stupefaction is
the state of knowing, where knowing
goes as far as to circle around again to ignorance,
truth is overpowered by a gang of truths (with its
own internal conflicts) and action, consequently,
must cease.
°
Stupefaction comes
after no more than five minutes
of having one or more of the senses open.
°
Stupefaction results
from opening a cheap dictionary
and finding the definitions of the word "Stupefy"
as those listed above, themselves a contradiction
(to dull the sense of and to overwhelm with amazement).
Those definitions seem to have been made with the
intention of inducing the state rather than defining it.
°
My purpose is the
same — to render the reader and myself
profoundly inactive.
°
With a headful of
contradictions we will see things as
they are.
°
Truth is overpowered
by a gang of truths.
°
History is overpowered by a gang of histories.
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