I Never Dared Hope for You
by Christian Bobin
translated from the French by Alison AndersonI Never Dared Hope for You
In these eleven contemplative sketches Christian Bobin reflects upon time, attention, solitude, companionship, and grace. Amid the increasingly mediated and sensationalist literature of our day, here is a quiet yet powerful plea for sanity, simplicity, and a return to basic things.
“She is dirty. Even clean she is dirty. She is covered in gold and excrement, in children and saucepans. She is omnipotent. She is like a greasy, dirty queen who has nothing left to govern, as she has already invaded everywhere, has already contaminated everything with her intrinsic filth. No one can resist her. She reigns by virtue of an eternal yearning for the depths, for the black hole of time. In prison she is like a tranquilizer. In certain psychiatric hospitals she is always on duty. It is in such places that she is most in her element: no on looks at her, no one listens to her, they let her waffle on in her corner, they place before her those they no longer know what to do with.” – from “Evil.”
In these eleven contemplative sketches Christian Bobin reflects upon time, attention, solitude, companionship, and grace. Amid the increasingly mediated and sensationalist literature of our day, here is a quiet yet powerful plea for sanity, simplicity, and a return to basic things.
“She is dirty. Even clean she is dirty. She is covered in gold and excrement, in children and saucepans. She is omnipotent. She is like a greasy, dirty queen who has nothing left to govern, as she has already invaded everywhere, has already contaminated everything with her intrinsic filth. No one can resist her. She reigns by virtue of an eternal yearning for the depths, for the black hole of time. In prison she is like a tranquilizer. In certain psychiatric hospitals she is always on duty. It is in such places that she is most in her element: no on looks at her, no one listens to her, they let her waffle on in her corner, they place before her those they no longer know what to do with.” – from “Evil.”
ISBN: 9780975444498
101 pages • paperback • $12.95 US
cover design by Justin Angeles
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Check out Alison Anderson's blog on honoring Bobin (by translating him) at Powell's
Check out Alison Anderson's blog on honoring Bobin (by translating him) at Powell's
