He Imagined Knocking the Whole Thing Down

Here’s a moment from Owlish by Dorothy Tse.

It’s a slightly creepy novel about an ageing university professor who falls in love with a life-sized music box ballerina. He goes AWOL from his depressing work and domestic lives to embark on what he sees as his last chance of adventure.

He moves into an old church on an uninhabited island, fills it with the beautiful art objects formerly boxed up in his study, writes poetry, hangs out with his doll thing, and scowls at his old workplace from a distance:

The less he went into the university, the better Professor Q felt. His mind was clearer and he felt ten years younger. He narrowed his eyes and extended his right thumb, trying to blot out the distant office building. He imagined knocking the whole thing down

He turned back to face the university and thought of himself sitting behind one of those windows, day in, day out, working like an automaton, and suddenly felt absolutely furious.

I’d say it’s amazing to find so many bloggable anti-work quotations in the books I read, when all I’m doing is trying to do is kick back and relax. But the hatred of being told what to do is all encompassing. It’s everywhere. Maybe it’s not taboo at all.

*

New Escapologist 17 is back in print for a limited time only. Baby, you know what to do.