Thanks for the link, but that site is doing something strange with the URL when I try to select some text in Firefox. I was just trying to highlight the guy's name to DDG him, and it just won't highlight, but only for the first two paragraphs.
I remember seeing Kureishi's accident show up on William Gibson's twitter feed during the pandemic.
He never struck me as a kind or peaceful person, thus not sympathetic, unlike the heart-filled and -oriented Mr. Gibson (who has been sober for quite a while). This man of familial wealth was (I guess) probably drunk at the time, and I wonder if he'll ever understand that using your gifts of affluent life and highly educated talent with words should be worth more then gossiping about your family, hooking up with any person you find attractive, and spending your life in pubs, as I gather from his wikipedia page.
It just goes to show that we should treasure each day, and not waste it while we still have good ones.
> In June 2023 Kureishi is taken by surprise again when he is finally moved from an Italian rehab facility to a London hospital. Because of a lack of beds, he is quartered, as if a character in a crudely satirical play, on the dementia ward.
God sure has a sense of humor in how he tells fools of their foolishness.
> Like you, I was wondering whether this patient became paralysed after being kicked in the back by said horse.
I wonder if he ever wondered that alcohol was likely the horse that kicked him in the head.
If only that man knew the importance of Rumi's words, "They Way goes in." Because his life's result is that he has plenty of time with his inner thoughts to explore that path to the Divine.
And, of course, the writer of this review has zero understanding of how Kureishi continues to throw away his remaining precious opportunities to learn that his heretofore frivolous life was not only indeed just that, but was the direct predecessor to the fall that has left his head his only functional appendage. Most people lack the honesty to face their own failings.
William Gibson says in "No Maps for These Territories" that his greatest worry is that he will lose his honesty about himself. Maybe Kurieshi should write less and instead listen to the words of his compatriot, the incomparable WG.
>>>He never struck me as a kind or peaceful person, thus not sympathetic, unlike the heart-filled and -oriented Mr. Gibson (who has been sober for quite a while). This man of familial wealth was (I guess) probably drunk at the time, and I wonder if he'll ever understand that using your gifts of affluent life and highly educated talent with words should be worth more then gossiping about your family, hooking up with any person you find attractive, and spending your life in pubs, as I gather from his wikipedia page.
>>>It just goes to show that we should treasure each day, and not waste it while we still have good ones.
I've been thinking lately about why, as I get older, I don't really have a desire to drink a lot or hedonistic behavior in general. I think maybe that's why. As I've become more aware of my own aging and mortality, I don't really want to just throw away a day (or more if you count hangovers) like that.
First, alcohol should be used topically only for medical treatment.
Second, getting drunk is simply the result of poisoning oneself, and that is detrimental to our body, so we should avoid it. It destroys our B vitamins and causes cancer, if the newer studies are to be believed (and I do).
Third, it lessens our inhibitions which is a huge societal problem. Sure, not everyone gets shitfaced or even behaves badly when imbibing too much, but the risk is always there and when one looks honestly at societies over the ages, lots of bad things happen when people get drunk. Domestic violence would drop significantly if people didn't get drunk or use hard drugs. I'm not a 'make it illegal' kind of guy, because that simply never works, but educating the population on the negative potential effects should be essential education for young people.
It's good you have outgrown that negative tendency of our cultures. Sometimes, we actually do gain wisdom as we age :-)
Thanks, sometimes the flow's fruit is sweeter than others, less bitter medicine, and more perspectives of the all-encompassing beauty of life and love.
I love Willaim Gibson & his works, ever since he gave away the first mp3s I ever downloaded and played, of his somewhat abbereviated Neuromancer, with The Edge supplying the techno backbeat in places, eight 45min mp3s for eight tape sides, his voice inflecting his own work. And his work has only grown more excellent over the years and novels, more applicable and insightful and funny and engaging. And his twitter feed was absolutely excellent. I hope his sequel to Agency is coming along nicely.
