Sunday, March 3, 2013

Madame Zilensky

"The reason for the lies of Madame Zilensky was painful and plain.  All her life long Madame Zilensky had worked -- at the piano, teaching, and writing those beautiful and immense twelve symphonies.  Day and night she had drudged and struggled and thrown her soul into her work, and there was not much of her left over for anything else.  Being human, she suffered from this lack and did what she could to make up for it.  If she passed the evening bent over a table in the library and later declared that she had spent that time playing cards, it was as though she had managed to do both those things.  Through the lies, she lived vicariously.  The lies doubled the little of her existence that was left over from work and augmented the little rag end of her personal life."

Carson McCullers, Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland

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