dimanche 13 octobre 2013

Prescription for reading Marisha Pessl's NIGHT FILM





I've just finished reading Marisha Pessl's second novel, NIGHT FILM. Or rather, it has finished me. The day after that simply did not register in my perceptive mind; it was null and void, it vanished into thin and dark air; it's gone away and will have no date. Do you remember that feeling of mental and physical numbness after you saw The Shining for the first time?
Well: "the same".
As a consequence, and in order to avoid too many casualties among my friends and fellow readers, I have designed a few instructions to follow - that is, if you wish to read this book and remain more or less alive:

- Cancel all your appointments for one solid week;
- Remove all clocks, watches and digital displays from view;
- Switch off all telephones and communication devices (with one exception: you may want to consult virtual documents about Night Film);
- Remove the batteries from your doorbell;
- Destroy your TV set(s); burn your fashion and people magazines in your bathtub;
- Pretend you are away and unreachable; book up a train or a plane to some unlikely destination;
- Prepare a fair supply of water (but no food - fasting is strongly recommended - drugs are left to your personal judgment - if any - although they should not be an impediment);
- Do not read Theodore Roszak's Flicker (in French: La conspiration des ténèbres) or watch David Lynch's Mulholland Drive beforehand; a certain proximity in their messages and processes may induce an unwelcome confusion, or a belief that Night Film is not a master-piece because it came after; this wrong opinion must be cut in the bud;
- Put Russian XIXth century music in loop on your hi-fi; that or nothing;
- Do not change clothes till the end of reading experiment; do not wash; do not sleep unless you can't help it (if you do, do not break fast when you wake up);
- Start reading;
- Don't stop (if you CAN stop, it means you're probably dead and not aware of it because of some ancient religious misinterpretation of life perceptiveness - retrieve breathing activity as soon as possible - dismiss any vertigo sensation);
- When done, pass the virus to 13 people in one month (less would lead to feelings of guilt and auto-persecution, with high risks of self-maiming and bad personal ending);
- Do not lend your copy to somebody you wouldn't trust your very own life with.

Remember: fear is something that screams into your ears and blinds you to prevent you from hearing and seeing the truth.

Be seeing you in Darkness and Oblivion

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