The special thing about literature, the major art form of Western civilisation now ending before our eyes, is not hard to define. Only literature can give you access to a spirit from beyond the grave – a more direct, more complete, deeper access than you’d have in conversation with a friend. Even in our deepest, most lasting friendships, we never speak as openly as when we face a blank page and address a reader we don’t know. Continue reading Houellebecq, Michel “Submission”

We are not human beings having an occasional spiritual experience. Rather, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Continue reading Tipping, Colin “Radical Forgiveness”

I invite everyone to pretend for one hour that you support the exact opposite of what you are supporting and look for information with that mindset. Only this way you will be able to make an informed decision Continue reading Cervellin Davide, Office of cards

Grown-ups don’t look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they’re big and thoughtless and they always know what they’re doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren’t any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world. Continue reading Gaiman Neil, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Ready or not, here I come, you can’t hide Continue reading Cixin Liu, Death’s End

Dark forest theory holds that civilizations fear one another so much that they don’t dare to reveal themselves lest they immediately be considered a potential threat and destroyed. Continue reading Cixin Liu, The Dark Forest

When you see the world around being broken, corrupted and manipulated, would you use the chance to destroy it? Do you believe that humanity is marred beyond salvation and total extermination is the best solution to the existing problems? Would you betray your kind and act as a tool in annihilation of your kind? Continue reading Cixin Liu, The Three Body Problem

What transforms this world is — knowledge. Do you see what I mean? Nothing else can change anything in this world. Knowledge alone is capable of transforming the world, while at the same time leaving it exactly as it is. When you look at the world with knowledge, you realize that things are unchangeable and at the same time are constantly being transformed. Continue reading Mishima Yukio, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion

Did you think the Snow White married the prince and they lived happily ever after? Continue reading Gaiman Neil, The Sleeper and the Spindle