What do you think?
Rate this book
15 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1976
"One day we had a discussion in class, and they asked me where did they go? the trees, the salamander, the tropical fish, the poppas and mommas, the Methew and Tony, where did they go? and I said I don't know. I don't know. And they said, who knows? and I said, nobody knows. And they said is death which gives meaning to life? and I said, no life is that which gives meaning to life.
And they said but is not death considered as fundamental datum by which the taken-for-granted mundanity of every day may be transcended in the direction of-
I said, yes maybe.
They said, we don't like it.
I said, that's sound.
They said it's a bloody shame!
I said, it is.
"And they said, is death that which gives meaning to life? And I said no, life is that which gives meaning to life. Then they said, but isn’t death, considered as a fundamental datum, the means by which the taken-for-granted mundanity of the everyday may be transcended in the direction of –I'm sorry.. but when did children become capable of saying these kinds of things? I would assume these are young children since they beg their teacher to "make love to Helen" because they want to know what it is supposed to be like. This whole story really just confused me. I see a lot of good reviews so maybe this just isn't my cup of tea. With all the talk of life an death, I'm sure there is this whole deeper meaning that I don't care to delve into. Just when the students start to lose hope because yet another thing died, a gerbil shows up. So strange.
I said, yes, maybe."