After reading Mother - Machine…

Because of Christmas...

Christmas

It was Christmas. I was walking across the vast plain. The snow was like glass. It was cold. The air was lifeless. No movement, not a sound. The horizon was round. The sky black. The stars dead. The moon carried to its grave yesterday. The sun not risen. I screamed. I could not hear myself. I screamed again. I saw a body lying on the snow. It was the Christ child. Its limbs white and rigid. Its halo a yellow frozen disc. I took the child in my hands. I moved its arms up and down. I opened its lids. It had no eyes. I was hungry. I ate the halo. It tasted like old bread. I bit his head off. Old marzipan. I continued on my way.
(Friedrich Dürrenmatt)

Mother - Machine tells the story of a hungry man.
Do you prefer eating or sleeping by night? They (the ghouls) prefer to eat!

Inside your stomach a nightmarish supper.
So, eat light next time.

Or, your mother, the first machine from which you eat.

( )

This story put me through a whole set of emotions: at first I was irritated and confused by what was going on. At the end I was depressed and thought this was a very sad story. However now, some days later, I recognize a glimmer of hope coming with an acceptable closure. Mother-Machine is a complex story which took some time to feel comfortable around, but now, just like the 'ghoul', I've made my peace with it.

(I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review) ( )