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Mar 18, 2023Liked by Tim Osner

"Outside date palms. She liked palms; they did not strike frightening poses and bespoke of holy things and holy things are safe. This, her goal – to be safe – not wealth or standing, though these she must have but they were a means."

I really like how I am only learning about Aile's back story now. I'm glad I was able to meet her and be with her (as a reader) before knowing all of the ways she has suffered. Our past experiences inform who we become. It is rare to EVER fully know another person's past history. In my experience - most people want to be treated like a normal person -without others needing to know their past.

I will always think about Aile when I see a date tree now.

Shocking and terrifying to read about the ship: "The bucca seized up and split, the bow and stern collapsing in on each other."

Heartbreaking to hear the bowman calling out the names of his drowned sons over and over.

From Aile's perspective:

"Two rivers – above and beneath, the torrents below concealed till they hit the rapids. To cross it, they’ll need God’s protection, and Tìbald, with his mouth, would undo it . . . Save us from this river."

This made me laugh - I really like the character of Aile.

This section is fascinating and I can picture it being a scene in a film:

"On the last run, Marin and Esmè were among those left. Tìbald and Aile rode up from the bank. Apart from the foot soldiers, gimping along on a mismatched pair of legs, was a spearman, at least so he appeared.

His head was bent low under the weight of a dented helm, which fell across his eyes – a pointed face, slacked-jawed creature with a palsied right arm with the spear in his left hand, which he held like a staff. On his breast a makeshift cross. Tìbald, upon seeing him, recognized him at once – Jēsu in Disguise."

I'm fascinated by Jēsu in Disguise. I'm wondering if he is only seen by Tìbald or if only some people can see him in the way Tìbald sees him. As a reader - he is part of the world I see - so he is very real to me.

In Apichatpong Weerasethakul's 2010 beautiful film: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thai: ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ)

-Mystical things that other often can not seen ARE seen by all of the characters.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's 2021 beautiful film Memoria (staring Tilda Swinton) explores this hallucinatory/dreamlike world. It focuses on sound. It begins with Tilda Swinton's character hearing a specific sound. Is she the only one who can hear it?

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