Kaminski

has me wondering if I do need to read Kafka.  "Franz Kafka's influence on Peter Handke is profound, particularly in how Handke constructs narratives of alienation, absurdity, and the intense focus on subjective perception. While Handke has not always been a sympathetic reader of Kafka, he has acknowledged Kafka's artistry as "pure" and "true" rather than just humorous. Or at least the Diaries.

great line from D H Lawrence on page 109  "Perhaps only people who are capable of real togetherness have that look of being alone in the universe.  The others have a certain stickiness; they stick to the mass."

Kaminski's book, finished it this morning, is an elegant piece of work, indeed.  The tale from medical history about handwashing (cadavers to birthing), how it was ignored and later proven true, key quotations about Frieda Kahlo, from David Foster Wallace, Lawrence, above, Dickinson's poem in the chapter about death, the Bedouin waiter's wisdom about love as a burn (131) and, last but not least, the only (I think, or maybe, one of the few) uses of the word feeling: "Those who accept verbal language as the only language of the mind remember mostly through words.  The otroverts remembers in feelings that cannot be articulated in words; these feelings are less likely to get lost in the recesses of memory, where they become irretrievable."  141   on 148 "the child's emotional aloofness in group settings is baffling to the rest" reminded me precisely of the key event of refusing to go to Catherine Schwininger's birthday party when I was in second grade (?).  

Other ways to say how the book surprised me.  Very impressive with the soft and quiet way he handled his own autobiographical details and then in the acknowledgement other life details.  And as finale the way he puts Janus Korczak, Warsaw pediatrician who died with his orphans under the Nazis against our current T hive cruel and selfish aggressiveness.  

Brilliant, the book, in every way.  Reviewed beautifully what I already knew, strengthened my sense of myself and my takes on all of these things over my lifetime.  

One more Key passage for resonance---page 117 "one otroverts I know lives  modest lifestyle but will always splurge on first-class plane tickets; she is willing to pay an exorbitant premium not for legroom or the three-course meal but for a modicum of additional privacy and distance from fellow passengers."

Yes, for sure!!!