"And what is the most potent myth of all?' she went on, in the slightly ringing tones that caused him to make a discreet sign to the waiter for the bill. 'The tortoise and the hare,' she pronounced. 'People love this one, especially women. Now you will notice, Harold that in my books it is the mouse-like un-assuming girl who gets the hero, while the scornful temptress with whom he has had a stormy affair retreats baffled from the fray, never to return. The tortoise wins every time. This is a lie, of course,' she said, pleasantly, but with authority, the kiwi fruit slipping back unnoticed onto her plate. 'In real life, of course, it is the hare who wins. Every time...Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game. The propaganda goes all the other way, but only because it is the tortoise who is in need of consolation. Like the meek who are going to inherit the earth,' she added with a brief smile...." - from Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
4 comments:
Hi there, I was wondering if that photo of the young woman is indeed Anita Brookner? And where did you find it? Thanks!
I believe that this photo was taken of Anita Brookner during her years in Paris in the late 1960s - when she was either studying or teaching art history. I'm not sure what if any fiction writing she did at this time so many years before her first novel was published. I can't remember where I found it exactly...I'm still working on that...
Sorry to be that guy – the photo had me intrigued – but it's actor Jean Seberg, photographed by Raymond Cauchetier. Disappointing but there you are. There's a fascinating brief article on the New Yorker website about how Cauchetier came to be in the right spot to document the high points of the French New Wave. Cheers!
Oh, darn...
Well...thank you for correcting my mistake...
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