In literature, the reader standing at the threshold of the end of a book harbors no illusion that the end has not comehe or she can see where it finishes, the abyss the other side of the last chunk of text. Which means that the writer is never in danger of ending too soonor if he does the reader has been so forewarned. This is the advantage a book has over a filmit is the brain that marshals forward the text and controls the precise moment of conclusion of the book, as the density of the pages thins. A film can end without you if youve fallen asleep or, because you cant wait any longer to use the bathroom, slipped out of the darkness of the theatre salon, and missed it. There will never be a form more perfect than the book, which always moves at your pace, that sits waiting for you exactly where youve left it and never goes on without you.
About This Quote
About John M. Keller, Abracadabrantesque
John M. Keller, Abracadabrantesque.