Even while reading books that I'm not going to mark, I have to hold a pencil in my hand.

I'm reminded again of some obscure books from decades ago - Canadian architect Witold Rybczynski (Home and The Most Beautiful House in the World). He writes about how space isn’t merely occupied but felt, and how those feelings accumulate over time like sediment—a domestic archaeology of emotion.

"Much of what passes for tradition in architecture is recent invention."

Witold Rybczynski — The Most Beautiful House in the World (1989)

We seem to be getting to see more of Faye in this book, rather than just Faye reflected by others.

And that necklace! "Yeah, boyeeeeee!"

So much packed into one sentence.

Yes, but she's signaling something. I need to think on what.

(le regard des autres)

This sentence stood out to me as more ornate, musically stylized, and even slightly theatrical compared to Cusk’s usual clarity and restraint—more flourish.

It's so modern, proto-clinical. I didn't have the lived vocabulary at 18 (my first reading) to recognize the realism of this scene. Heartbreaking indeed.

I’ve been thinking about this more. I don’t think Cusk believes in either fate or free will. The best (admittedly clumsy) way I can describe her worldview is as one of contingent and relational causality.

I sense that some of the aphorisms in the novels, Cusk believes, and others she does not, but we are left with little clue as to which are which.

I love these lines! The sound, the vertigo of the rhythm, the imagery, the metaphors, the compassion disguised as deception.

#KingLear_2025