Kirn and Taibbi discussed this story on America This Week. I wouldn’t have got it either. “This world to that” refers to him going back to virtual confinement as the result of whatever crime he is about to commit. “Prayed it was the last” refers to he didn’t want to leave his virtual world for the real one anymore.
Walter—I follow you on Racket News and saw you recently on Gutfeld. You are a hell of a talent and have a brilliant mind (big compliment from me)—and I didn’t even know you did short story fiction. I know that you’re good—because this is not normally my genre but it sucked me in. Made me want to slow down and read it rather than skim. Your piece inspired me to write more. Thank you.
Walter, you blocked my main personal acnt on twtr! like the MAIN one?! you are a hero of mine: do you know why you did?
i was honest when complimenting your writing, & speaking. i was honest about my psychonaught friends now taking methylene blue. & i was honestly sharing reaction vids: bc i actually like them! & i was honest when i said you blocking me would register as negative affect. & it hurts a bit. we've never had a negative exchange*. & im not a bot. & maybe im neither fun nor as good at writing or coalition building as i may prefer. it is, unfairly, harder to enjoy your work now.
you dont owe me anything. but when i get blocked (not even just muted) by my heroes, im always curious why. of course i am. & were you not a hero of mine: i wouldnt have noticed. right? i suspect you added a tone in your mind that wasnt actually present. but i actually dont know. do you?
not the first hero ive been blocked by, which says whatever it says. but if you know why, let me know. here or anywhr. or dont. but i asked. _JC
..
*(i dont actually check my mentions often, bc i work a lot of nights & study a lot of the rest of the day. by the time i get to twtr in any moment im tired & it is pretty loose. still: we've shared no *active* negative exchanges im aware of.)
I enjoy your and Matt's discussions of stories, which are always interesting and sometimes illuminating. I looked forward to reading this story of yours, and have a numner of reactions and questions, some of which I included below.
The day Ben has dreaded for years has finally come, the day of his release from prison.
[Why “dreaded”? If the virtual world he had been confined in was his own creation, why was being confined there a punishment, which one assumes being in prison should be? Or is this future confinement only a matter of an “enlightened” policy of actual “rehabilitation”?]
* * * * * *
The tenants were other single men who seemed to be out of favor with society and wary of approaching one another.
[Brief descriptive details that would establish these residents were “out of favor” and “wary” would help.]
* * * * * *
... nor did he feel compelled to seek out sex or other forms of risky intense companionship. He felt rehabilitated indeed.
[Catchy description: "... other forms of risky intense companionship." But by what understanding of human behavior would the disappearance of sexual desire be considered "rehabilitation"?]
* * * * * *
... his still-piercing memories of Castle World. They weren’t diminishing as he’d thought they would and keeping them at bay, in place, was proving something of a struggle.
[Why were his Castle World memories something he wanted or needed to “struggle” to “keep at bay"? See above comment about "dreading" being released from prison.]
* * * * * *
“Another superstitious moral panic. For a country with alleged Puritan roots, it’s always game for an orgy of self-righteousness. Only this time, instead of demon rum or ‘jungle music’ or communism or, it’s an essential mental faculty: The imagination. Well, fancy that. We’re all born defective, defective at the root, squirreling away our dreams to starve the group. ThouThough shalt not spill one’s dreams upon the ground. It may be our final, most perverse delusion, and heaven knows how far they plan to take it. The truth is, they’re tyrants. They want to rule it all. From ear to ear, from neck to scalp, every last neuron in every human skull.”
[Not sure what Ollie’s musing about the Code is about. Is he saying that the point of the Code is to murder the imagination? Shouldn’t this be less opaquely described?]
* * * * * *
He had been raised in homes without religion, by foster families and distant relatives, some of them defeated and unkind, and he lacked a vocabulary for higher things. A missionary he’d sat with on a bus once gave him a Bible to keep and write his name in, but his Aunt Lenore, a luckless drunk, took it into the bath one night to read and let it fall into the water.
[Is there any reason not to provide a bit of a backstory on Ben? You’ve mentioned twice his being brought up, at least part of the time, in foster homes but never satisfy any curiosity a reader might have about Ben’s “coming up.”]
* * * * * *
Tim Bliff arrived at twelve-fifteen, as always, and sat with his juice and muffin at the long table strewn with game consoles, batteries, and chargers. He tore his muffin into chunks and fed himself like a pigeon in the park, popping them into his mouth between pinched fingers. He seemed to be keeping a schedule. He kept his hat on and finished his juice in three long equal gulps. He picked up a console and played for a few minutes, set it down, went to the men’s room, came out unzipped, noticed this, fixed it, and left through the side door, the one used by bikers because the rack was there. Not once had Ben seen him look at him or even in his direction. It hardly mattered. He’d know soon enough what Ben looked like and who he was. What he was capable of, what he could do. He’d know more about Ben than Ben knew, which wasn’t much.
Ben waited a minute, then followed Tim outside, from this world to that world, whatever it proved to be. Something inside him prayed it was the last one, the world he wouldn’t ever have to leave.
[Very confused/bewildered by the ending. Who's Tim Bliff? Am I just a dunderhead missing the point of your story? If so, it wouldn’t be the first time.]
Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics, pg 1103 The Basic Works of Aristotle, Modern Library Classics
"Pleasant amusements also are thought to be of this nature; we choose them not for the sake of other things; for we are injured rather than benefited by them, since we are led to neglect our bodies and our property. But most of the people who are deemed happy take refuge in such pastimes, which is the reason why those who are ready-witted at them are highly esteemed at the courts of tyrants; they make themselves pleasant companions in the tyrants' favorite pursuits, and that is the sort of man they want. Now these things are thought to be of the nature of happiness because people in despotic positions spend their leisure in them, but perhaps such people prove nothing; for virtue and reason, from which good activities flow, do not depend on despotic position; nor, if these people, who have never tasted pure and generous pleasure, take refuge in the bodily pleasures, should these for that reason be thought more desirable; for boys, too, think the things that are valued among themselves are the best...
Happiness, therefore, does not lie in amusement; it would, indeed, be strange if the end were amusement, and one were to take trouble and suffer hardship all one's life in order to amuse oneself. For, in a word, everything that we choose we choose for the sake of something else--except happiness, which is an end. Now to exert oneself and work for the sake of amusement seems silly and utterly childish. But to amuse oneself in order that one may exert oneself, as Anacharsis puts it, seems right; for amusement is a sort of relaxation, and we need relaxation because we cannot work continuously. Relaxation, then, is not an end; for it is taken for the sake of activity.
The happy life is thought to be virtuous; now a virtuous life requires exertion, and does not consist in amusement. And we say that serious things are better than laughable things and those connected with amusement, and that the activity of the better of any two things--whether it be two elements of our being or two men-- is the more serious; but the activity of the better is ipso facto superior and more of the nature of happiness."
My wife is my Tim Bliff - just when I start really fully inhabiting some fantasy world through books, movies, or games, she throws a flaming bag of detritus at me 😂
More please. What was the point of referencing what “Orrin” said (3rd line of the paragraph after the second break)? There was no mention of him before, after or even who he was…or was this a typo referencing Ollie?
Something inside him prayed it was the last....
More...
Merci
Embarrassed to admit I don’t understand this line. The last what? The last world? Why would the hero want that dystopian world to be the last?
Kirn and Taibbi discussed this story on America This Week. I wouldn’t have got it either. “This world to that” refers to him going back to virtual confinement as the result of whatever crime he is about to commit. “Prayed it was the last” refers to he didn’t want to leave his virtual world for the real one anymore.
Honestly, I don’t understand it either. What the hell was I talking about?!
Walter—I follow you on Racket News and saw you recently on Gutfeld. You are a hell of a talent and have a brilliant mind (big compliment from me)—and I didn’t even know you did short story fiction. I know that you’re good—because this is not normally my genre but it sucked me in. Made me want to slow down and read it rather than skim. Your piece inspired me to write more. Thank you.
Thanks Walter. Maybe Matt and you can discuss one of your stories on the podcast.
Walter Kirn― "Soon, he will leave the Forest of Four Peaks and return to the dismal flats of his old life"
More please Water!
Very nice Walter! Thanks!
Walter, you blocked my main personal acnt on twtr! like the MAIN one?! you are a hero of mine: do you know why you did?
i was honest when complimenting your writing, & speaking. i was honest about my psychonaught friends now taking methylene blue. & i was honestly sharing reaction vids: bc i actually like them! & i was honest when i said you blocking me would register as negative affect. & it hurts a bit. we've never had a negative exchange*. & im not a bot. & maybe im neither fun nor as good at writing or coalition building as i may prefer. it is, unfairly, harder to enjoy your work now.
you dont owe me anything. but when i get blocked (not even just muted) by my heroes, im always curious why. of course i am. & were you not a hero of mine: i wouldnt have noticed. right? i suspect you added a tone in your mind that wasnt actually present. but i actually dont know. do you?
not the first hero ive been blocked by, which says whatever it says. but if you know why, let me know. here or anywhr. or dont. but i asked. _JC
..
*(i dont actually check my mentions often, bc i work a lot of nights & study a lot of the rest of the day. by the time i get to twtr in any moment im tired & it is pretty loose. still: we've shared no *active* negative exchanges im aware of.)
The caged bird preys. But first, coffee.
I love short stories. Keep ‘em coming Walter.
Thanks!
I enjoy your and Matt's discussions of stories, which are always interesting and sometimes illuminating. I looked forward to reading this story of yours, and have a numner of reactions and questions, some of which I included below.
The day Ben has dreaded for years has finally come, the day of his release from prison.
[Why “dreaded”? If the virtual world he had been confined in was his own creation, why was being confined there a punishment, which one assumes being in prison should be? Or is this future confinement only a matter of an “enlightened” policy of actual “rehabilitation”?]
* * * * * *
The tenants were other single men who seemed to be out of favor with society and wary of approaching one another.
[Brief descriptive details that would establish these residents were “out of favor” and “wary” would help.]
* * * * * *
... nor did he feel compelled to seek out sex or other forms of risky intense companionship. He felt rehabilitated indeed.
[Catchy description: "... other forms of risky intense companionship." But by what understanding of human behavior would the disappearance of sexual desire be considered "rehabilitation"?]
* * * * * *
... his still-piercing memories of Castle World. They weren’t diminishing as he’d thought they would and keeping them at bay, in place, was proving something of a struggle.
[Why were his Castle World memories something he wanted or needed to “struggle” to “keep at bay"? See above comment about "dreading" being released from prison.]
* * * * * *
“Another superstitious moral panic. For a country with alleged Puritan roots, it’s always game for an orgy of self-righteousness. Only this time, instead of demon rum or ‘jungle music’ or communism or, it’s an essential mental faculty: The imagination. Well, fancy that. We’re all born defective, defective at the root, squirreling away our dreams to starve the group. ThouThough shalt not spill one’s dreams upon the ground. It may be our final, most perverse delusion, and heaven knows how far they plan to take it. The truth is, they’re tyrants. They want to rule it all. From ear to ear, from neck to scalp, every last neuron in every human skull.”
[Not sure what Ollie’s musing about the Code is about. Is he saying that the point of the Code is to murder the imagination? Shouldn’t this be less opaquely described?]
* * * * * *
He had been raised in homes without religion, by foster families and distant relatives, some of them defeated and unkind, and he lacked a vocabulary for higher things. A missionary he’d sat with on a bus once gave him a Bible to keep and write his name in, but his Aunt Lenore, a luckless drunk, took it into the bath one night to read and let it fall into the water.
[Is there any reason not to provide a bit of a backstory on Ben? You’ve mentioned twice his being brought up, at least part of the time, in foster homes but never satisfy any curiosity a reader might have about Ben’s “coming up.”]
* * * * * *
Tim Bliff arrived at twelve-fifteen, as always, and sat with his juice and muffin at the long table strewn with game consoles, batteries, and chargers. He tore his muffin into chunks and fed himself like a pigeon in the park, popping them into his mouth between pinched fingers. He seemed to be keeping a schedule. He kept his hat on and finished his juice in three long equal gulps. He picked up a console and played for a few minutes, set it down, went to the men’s room, came out unzipped, noticed this, fixed it, and left through the side door, the one used by bikers because the rack was there. Not once had Ben seen him look at him or even in his direction. It hardly mattered. He’d know soon enough what Ben looked like and who he was. What he was capable of, what he could do. He’d know more about Ben than Ben knew, which wasn’t much.
Ben waited a minute, then followed Tim outside, from this world to that world, whatever it proved to be. Something inside him prayed it was the last one, the world he wouldn’t ever have to leave.
[Very confused/bewildered by the ending. Who's Tim Bliff? Am I just a dunderhead missing the point of your story? If so, it wouldn’t be the first time.]
Aristotle - Nicomachean Ethics, pg 1103 The Basic Works of Aristotle, Modern Library Classics
"Pleasant amusements also are thought to be of this nature; we choose them not for the sake of other things; for we are injured rather than benefited by them, since we are led to neglect our bodies and our property. But most of the people who are deemed happy take refuge in such pastimes, which is the reason why those who are ready-witted at them are highly esteemed at the courts of tyrants; they make themselves pleasant companions in the tyrants' favorite pursuits, and that is the sort of man they want. Now these things are thought to be of the nature of happiness because people in despotic positions spend their leisure in them, but perhaps such people prove nothing; for virtue and reason, from which good activities flow, do not depend on despotic position; nor, if these people, who have never tasted pure and generous pleasure, take refuge in the bodily pleasures, should these for that reason be thought more desirable; for boys, too, think the things that are valued among themselves are the best...
Happiness, therefore, does not lie in amusement; it would, indeed, be strange if the end were amusement, and one were to take trouble and suffer hardship all one's life in order to amuse oneself. For, in a word, everything that we choose we choose for the sake of something else--except happiness, which is an end. Now to exert oneself and work for the sake of amusement seems silly and utterly childish. But to amuse oneself in order that one may exert oneself, as Anacharsis puts it, seems right; for amusement is a sort of relaxation, and we need relaxation because we cannot work continuously. Relaxation, then, is not an end; for it is taken for the sake of activity.
The happy life is thought to be virtuous; now a virtuous life requires exertion, and does not consist in amusement. And we say that serious things are better than laughable things and those connected with amusement, and that the activity of the better of any two things--whether it be two elements of our being or two men-- is the more serious; but the activity of the better is ipso facto superior and more of the nature of happiness."
My wife is my Tim Bliff - just when I start really fully inhabiting some fantasy world through books, movies, or games, she throws a flaming bag of detritus at me 😂
Referred here from ATW. Enjoyed the piece, Walter. - A Big Fan
Timely, how fun … please keep ‘em coming.
More please. What was the point of referencing what “Orrin” said (3rd line of the paragraph after the second break)? There was no mention of him before, after or even who he was…or was this a typo referencing Ollie?