Paperback, 178 pages
English language
Published April 8, 1995 by North Point Pr.
I read weird stuff from time to time but this was weird. I am not sure I really understood everything--i need to go read some reviews, and may update my rating. But the themes of seeing vs being seen were really interesting
I loved the beginning of this, but about 1/3 or 1/2 way through, it seemed to tread water for long stretches, and there is not much payoff at the end. Disappointing after what I thought was a great start.
1) ''This is the record of a box man.
I am beginning this account in a box. A cardboard box that reaches just to my hips when I put it on over my head.
That is to say, at this juncture the box man is me. A box man, in his box, is recording the chronicle of a box man.''
2) ''The clothes she had removed lay in lumps at her feet. On the nurse's white uniform the tiny black undies stretched out like a dead spider.''
3) ''The reason men somehow go on living, enduring the gaze of others, is that they bargain on the hallucinations and the inexactitude of human eyes. By putting on clothes that as much as possible are identical and by having similar hairdos they manage to make it difficult to distinguish between one another. If I don't give a straight look, then the other …
1) ''This is the record of a box man.
I am beginning this account in a box. A cardboard box that reaches just to my hips when I put it on over my head.
That is to say, at this juncture the box man is me. A box man, in his box, is recording the chronicle of a box man.''
2) ''The clothes she had removed lay in lumps at her feet. On the nurse's white uniform the tiny black undies stretched out like a dead spider.''
3) ''The reason men somehow go on living, enduring the gaze of others, is that they bargain on the hallucinations and the inexactitude of human eyes. By putting on clothes that as much as possible are identical and by having similar hairdos they manage to make it difficult to distinguish between one another. If I don't give a straight look, then the other person won't either; and one ends up leading a life of lowered glances. Thus long ago the punishment known as the pillory used to be used, but it was said to be too cruel and was discontinued in enlightened societies. That the act of spying on someone else is generally looked upon with scorn is because, I suppose, one does not want to be on the side of being seen.''
