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  • Sontag, Susan. The Way We Live Now

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    BeatrizYV
    17 vues8 pages
    The way we live now

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    Sontag, Susan. the Way We Live Now

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    The way we live now

    Droits d'auteur :

    © All Rights Reserved
    Téléchargez comme PDF ou lisez en ligne sur Scribd
    Signaler comme contenu inapproprié
    17 vues8 pages

    Sontag, Susan. The Way We Live Now

    Transféré par

    BeatrizYV
    The way we live now

    Droits d'auteur :

    © All Rights Reserved
    Téléchargez comme PDF ou lisez en ligne sur Scribd
    Signaler comme contenu inapproprié
    sur 8
    1987 Susan Sontag ‘The Way We Live Now ac The ew Yk a incr he sj ong wiht ton te en ane data for speinmen ibs acts sae 1 i emai op on ing ot the sane ht bt he di op say pd ot, we est hes igh abate ante Cen moan ie, 0 1, or healthier, or maybe just to gain ae Us ad Orn fare des Tn eon the bese be cling the wal (tat what pope say) ano ee ster tht emi rts nando nn this lng? beingache- feo theistic nyu Bucs nod doctor, Stephen wanted to Know since it would have bes sry "tt go fora chcap arth poses of ane mesic Segre pat con Fyn ha Adi the woul go crn hough he wa ines hs ‘shane nour ods be igen eae ‘that might see had been worrying unt ec sowed was onlin thea scm hat he adie lc {ase of panic his mouth, base becoming ei na os {hig that happened to other peopl anormal delusion, be oberved to lo fone was thirty-eight and had never had a setous ines ‘mba cntmel phon Orne ao oer eerone as we att woul de “Max pointed out to Quenti it consid oer aso ott Quen de vant ange ee oc stand ops aia being eae, becca hope Aa re if one prove tobe lo soa se up tey te see ments tht promi an art ofthe dices couse, ‘scar spring Ie semed that eye wn Sa 7 cverqone else several times a woe; checking in ve never spent so many four at time on the phone, Sephen sid to Kate and when Tm haus ater the two of tree cals made 1o me, ving me the latest, instead of switching off the phone o give myself respite tap ox the numberof another end of acquaintance, to pass on the news. mot Ste Teun ford to think so mich about le ak nd L suspect my ‘en motives there's someting morbid Tim geting wed to, tng ied by thi must eke what people flim London during the Bits. [fa | know Fm not at sk, But you never know sai Aen. This ‘thing's totaly unprecedented, rid Prank But dot you think he ought to see a doctor, Stephen insisted, Listen, sid Orson, you cat force people to take care of themsles, and what makes you think the worst fe could be jst ran dowa, people sil do get ordinary ilinese, ava fnes, why are you astuming it aso be da, But al Twaat vo Be suc, Said Stephen, that he understands the options, because most people Alon, thats why they won't ace a doctor or have the est the think thew nothing one ca do. Bat there anything ane can doe ato “Tanya (according to Greg) man wat do gin igo tothe doctor if ‘meal e eported to hve sad lind out son enough, ‘And when he was inthe hospital is spss Seemed to lighten, ccord- ing to Donny. He scemed more cheerful than he had been in the lst ‘months, Uula std, and the bad news seemed to come almost as ele according to Ina a8 4 trly unexpected blow, according 10 ‘Quentin, but youd ard expect him to have sad the sare thing to ll his fiends, Because his ration to Tra was so diferent fom his tela- tion to Quentin (this according to Quentin, who was proud oftheir Jendship, and perhaps he thought Quentin wouldnt be undone by seeing it weep but es insisted tht coulda be the renson he behaved So diferent with each, and that maybe he was feeling les shocked, Imobilizing hs srength to fight for his if, atthe moment he saw I brat overcome by feetings of hopelessness when Quentin arrived with Flowers, becasse anyway the Rowers threw him into a bod mood, as ‘Quentin tld Kate, since the hospital room vas choked with flowers, you couldnhave crammed another er into tha oom, but sry yovte exaggerating, Kate sd, sing, everybody kes lowes, Well Ieho woul xara at time ike thi, Quentin sad sharply. Don't You think his an exaggeration. OF couse Id, sid Kate ent was Only easing, I mean {didnt mean o tease. Lnow tat, Quentin si, Sih teas in his eyes and Kate hagge him ansaid well when Igo this ening gues 1 won brng flower, what dacs he want and Quentin ‘sai acording to Mas, what heks best x cco Is there anything tse, asked Kate, I mean ike chocolate but not choclate Lice, al (Quentin, blowing his nose. And besides thet, Arent you exaggerating ow, Quentin said smiling Right, said Kate, 501 want to ring itr whole alt of su besides chocolate and licorice, what ele. bean, Quentin sa He dit wan be loesconing to Pal, no of people ame inthe fst wc nd he Jamaican ir ad tee wee te pons on the oe wo woul e Gado athe rps Hones cad poole ere ad sts wa eh a ayy as Kae pina ns Ales theye not ven gegen the hil snr da ‘ts ere’ noting on the dor of his om warning aon ok {he psy of canton a there waa fw un agiiniaeRe 4 double room and as eld Ono, th old gone a ot arta ts cea on the way xt, sa Spon) dees ne the dete sas Kate went on, ou rely shold g and We hed ‘happy tee you be ies ang poe You stant ys because yout ais re ou OF eure not, Aen slut ont nom wt oy think flava hh es Bousd wae, hat willie hi fel wore 0 ont ding soy neck il Bathe wot noce syting Kat sping lees ae ak ‘ot Ihe tat nt the way you imapne hee not adeog wondering abou thc motive jut poy ws hi en Bu never areal and of hi Alen sa ou + en, et ope ayo ya dm as abst Nosh yar te he een attracted to me, but Be resets ou But scoring ‘Wiley the reason Aen was so ingy ith ber vit was ete could nese him to heed thee wee sashes hea andy thine thee stl theta arved sees elo, Nor years and can understand sd Donny tt Alesha iter tht thee cul have bens woman end hed oe ten sceisonaly bed woman be wey loved nd my God Vitro, ho ha known hi ints es he was czy about Nowa wat Ieart-rening coupe they were, two sly angel the it coulda have een she ‘And when some ofthe fiend, the ones who came every day, way the doctor inthe corridor, Stephen was the one who ashe the mon The Wig WeLive Now - informed qusions, wid been kping up not st with the stores thal appear ver ns 9 wek in the Times (och Greg caine {ohare opp eg, onabltostand anymore) bu with resi the medi oul pad ee ann England sd ans ad ‘ho knew scaly one ofthe pip doctors nai wh was ing Some nc pubied rene on he dese Duis doctor sid te Int thn tat he pcs wu ot fein he eer 3b ‘dng of eure be was ll weak bus he wes reoponding wel othe Sve that he ane wo compete hr say in he hospital which eds minimum of venom ays on he TV ese cold Sart hin on he now rhe moet sot th pony tet him ino the pos and when Vicor ai tht ihe 0 truch bleating (hed ny to reryne be they cued im oat Some ofthe hop may tht ood Gad tte gh Cate a Ey mac tein hi tht sod’ be gos that ens wee trtging him ll tht oct the dotr ft ed snd id that the cae the ptett more ward sn sprint ago, and ‘Sloss mae him fel ter shes no arn wich woried Steen ar Stephen si lite Donny eats they wate a Delve in th promis and taboos of today’s hghaech edie bt here his rast cit and aver haved pect nthe dese, someone {ve een inthe papers a ng some langle con: {hr what my tae ith oey or cihen pay So ech forthe pen apelin, wich igh mean, Mx, atthe ce joing trough he motos of treating hi, hat hy "te st oo ae ver a et it ow what th bel hey wee ding, ht the wu chee treba nod uping theaters tht hey i he dts, sealybave any hope ‘fn sil ews can tnd wit insane te Yost ean ahs hyn tg hen the phone igen sed yo amwerbecase Tink ‘Scns ling me omen ce ihr is aly mth Sys Rober a ey, dh rd cles cero Sing stot scan ipo tt sonene wou he Caled Levis and petape Lewis dk ko, vs for some eon Pe “nig so yb ee i oy ‘orcting mols ag to Gp, tnd not el to Gop aboot hs mat ooking we ong ih nd bing word about in and king is worked about evergbody ow, sa ety, that seems tobe the ony icihere wir tenar gees sonic iinet oe iene ie renter see eatery ete ete Solis cope oes See sateen ean linen atic ter Frere panier tarentcatt ratte ‘bettie aoc eae wins meet ere Sppeceerem r | e einga pak coer terest teat Sein eeech nantes eee mal no cg ah ee Sone iirc ea SSE Almera rece ey Sea mcacer a ree tie ee tide phoenrn toe ee te eclnbeens ten cmnacsi bas robin caren cree tae ‘hal oom hen kor aon al oeenba weal ntl alternate ome wot ables ta orbital sebpcert as ere te here ise ovacreeeayer sateen tate Sineteeay hee amiga Orson said, which is unusual in a collector, as Frank commented aed need eer gate mt ‘heim tu ent en Sees eee Serene Pea me tio lf tg yin i wows Hy coun hp mening oan sae Sac nds pra ang rs ‘enn bt ee cle eda eae ae The Way We Live Now os spirits had dipped not that there was any discouraging news fom the doctors, and he scemed ost to prefer being alone afew Dour of the ‘sy ade tld Donny that hed began keeping diary forthe Fst tie in his if, because he wanted to record the course of his mental reaction to this astonishing wire of evens, to do something paral 1 ‘what the doctors were doing, whe came every morning and conferedat his Bedside sbout he body, and that perhaps it wasnt 80 important what he wrote in it which amounted, 36 he sid weyy to Quentin, to Tite more than the eal baalies about terror and amazement that this was happenig to him, to him ls, plus the usual remorseful sssesiments of his pas life his pardonable sipericialites capped by "esave to ive beter, mre deep more in touch wi is work and his fends, and not to cae so psionately about what people thought of him, interspersed with admonitions to himself that inthis situation his ‘wil olive counted more han anythngele and hati he lly wanted tov, and trusted il, and lied himse well enough (down, of debi “Thana, be wou ve, he would be a exception; but pethaps all thi, as Quentin uminaed talking on the phone to Kate, wasn the pon the pon wa that by the very Keping of the dry he was aca Iulating somthing to rere one dash staking out his aim to ‘fate tim, in which the diary would bean object rel in which he right not actualy reread it because he would want to bave put this ‘ordeal hind him, but the dary woul be therein the drawer of his ‘upendoae Major desk, and he could already he id actully 5 0 {Quentin on te sunny aernoon, propped up in the hospital bed with the sain of choclate framing one comer of heartbreaking s,s him in the penthouse, the October sun steaming through those ‘lear windows instead of thit streaked one, andthe diary, the pathetic ‘ia ae inside the drawer. 18 doesnt matter about the treatment side effec, Stephen sad when talking wo Mix), I dort know why yute so worried about that, every strong tretment as some dangerous side ees its inevitable, you sean otherwise the treatment wouldnt be effective, Hilda interjected, and anyway, Stephen went on doggedly, just because there are side ‘ffs doesnt mean he hat get ther, oF all of them, each one, oF ‘¥en some of them. That's just ist of all he posible things that ould 9 wrong, Because the doctors have to cover themselves, so they make [pa worst-case scenario, but ist what's happening to him, and 0x0 ‘many ther people, Tanya interrupted a worst-case scenario acaasto he no oe cou have imagined, it tower a everything a side ffs, queda, even we ae al side effects, bt we ot ea side fects rank sad, he likes having his frends around, an wee hhping eack other, to; because his illest us lin the same gle, ‘mused Xavier and, whatever theelouses and grievances om the pst ‘that ave made us wary and cranky with eachother, when something like this happens (he sky is alin the sky filling) ou understand ‘what realy important. gee, Chichen Lite, he reported fo hae ‘sid But don't you think, Quentin observed to Max. tht belng a ne torhim as weare, making ime to drop bythe hospital everyday es ay fou trying define ourselves move firmly and revoabl athe we, those who aren il, who ares going toil il sif whats happened ‘him couldnt happen tous whea in atthe chances ae that ore lng ‘one of us will end up where hei whichis probably wat he et wher he was one of the cohort visting Zack in the spring you never new “Zack did you?) and, according t Claris, Zak's wide he did tcone ‘very often he side hated hospitals, and da el he was dong Zack any good, that Zack would se on his fice how uncomfortable he wae (Ob he was one of thos, Aileen sid A omar, Like me And after e was sent home fom the hospital and Quentin ha volun teored to inve in and was cooking mals and taking telephone mcs sages and exp the mother in Misinppi informed wel, nly keeping her fom flying to New York and heaping her rit on her son and confasing the household routine wit her oppresiveminieasons, Jews able to work an hour o wo in hist om dys he de ast on going out, for 3 meal oF a morie, which tired him, He seemat optimist, Kite thought, his appetite was good. and what Be sad, (Orson reported, was that he agred whea Stephen advise him tat the mai thing was to kecpin shape, be was «ity iht he wouldn't be who he was i he ware and was he tea forthe hig ght, Stephen ‘shed rhetorically (as Ma tld it9 Donny), and he si you bet and Stephen add it could be alot woese, yo could have gotten the dese {wo years agp, but now so many sents ae workingon ithe Amer ‘an feam and the French tam, everyone bucking for tat Nobel Prine fw years down the roa, that all you have to dos stay heal for another year o¢ two and then there wl be good teatment, rea teat, ‘ment. és, head Stephen amy ig is good. And Bese ed ‘been climbing on and rling off macobatc det fora decade came ‘Up witha lapanese specials she wanted him to see hut thanks God, ‘The Way We Live Now = Se aa acl soaking dare meh sg wth omer bv ee th re ating ant ethno hse (ioe ede whee arto or mould b,x Bette nt ng pee San mc aE at gern Beton Bayo cd Sei me ariel deo tnt wi cams sana pig mired wing years oe ary tir Spe edt ees dey oe ining Sirah flee at cil or iby ete rey tae oe eis canter Ste ea isto bestin ent Oe mane ol eto dan los Greed ed Se eS ced tre peed om, SOR ace ie telen fre end e i Cne weehehetn Stelae socow cs Uo ob aed ‘ange mtn when, nt sight aay but ll nite wes, be as ‘ep nthe trl forthe ew gi komedi fen the sans iting i ie Soaes eae fe ta eng Saco yh ie a a thorn wut ing etm eng mt hae hada ese bot ater sig wi «ee Bat the it cle, wasn {2a moe hsp avongenct jn» Kd of aan wih ped armen grab be Se ermal isdn os yt tepid Andirvar ennui Sp ied a om tears eat fom he une bw aly peride oma the gon hs ds he a ing yh ae of he re pone ain dea ait wee nar wd iis boy rey ost emo or es rn i de Polo, Inerevel becuse aSepen connie oer theme iasgn of hs ig hon rtd bg we oe mo er ‘Sinet emp et an xaptanats a e2agn atone wing te ig a foros Ard wes mae no a Shenae ms ag bn im ney ot im ' replied. In a way he's fortunate, suid Yworne, wh iar act tence aca ay meek leven em aettarcetri Sonarmattctpeceentit fin hing hn se ei geting tana edo said Jan, don't feel afraid, spoc fe 5 when wa ny new ht een ot the ame fo You, fo me or Lewis or Frank or Paolo or Mag. fa According to Lewis be tlle mor often abo Acconig ews tore often about those who visited more Sere seah seat sid Bey 1 thik het ven kenga ‘among thor who came or checked in by phone cre day a inner cite a it were, those who were geting oe pin, there was farther competition, which was what wis geting ow Hetoy's nerves, she confessed to Jan; there’ always tht vulgar jockeying fr poston around the beside ofthe gravely land though we al fet sulted with vita at ou loyalty to hm (speak for yourself). {o the extent that wee carving timeout of every dy or almost every day, though some of us ate dropping out, a Xavier pointed ou, sre vee geting at Feast as much out af hia he ie Are we, id Jan, We've "iva fra sig fom him of speci pleasure ofr vist each stretching forthe brass ring of his favor, wanting to fe the most wanted he te nearest and dearest, whichis inevitable with someone who desi ‘havea spouse and children o an offical in-house love hrc that sno one would dare contest, Betsy went om, 30 we ae the family he's founded, without meaning to, without ofl tle and ranks (ts we, snarled Quentin; and i t so dear, though some of ty Lews and (Quentin and Tanya and Paolo amang others are exlovers an alo ws ‘ore or les than finds, whic one of us he prefers, Victor sid (now its us, raged Quentin), beause sometime I think he looks forward tore to seeing Alen, who his vsted only thre ies twice a the Dospital and once since hes been home, thn he des you or me bat, sccording to Tanya, afer being very disappointed that Aileen hada’ ‘ome, now he was angry, whi according to avis, he was not really hurt but tuchingly passive, accepting Alene absence a something he somehow deserved, But he’s happy to have people around std Lewis he says when he doesnt have company he gets very sleepy he ses (according 1o Quentin), and then perks up when someone eves is important that he not feel ever alone. But, sid Visto theres one pets he hast herd from, whom he proba fke to heat from rose than most of us but she dia jst Yash, even right after the broke sway fom hm, and he knows exactly whee shelves nove sad Kate he told me he putin a al er last Christmas Ee, ad she sid is nice to hear from you and Mercy Christm, and be wae shattered, cording to Orson, and ferioas and disdain according to Hen (ra do you expect of he, said Wesley, he wes burned out, but Kate wondered if maybe he da phoned Nora in the middle ofa eepless ight, what’ the time aerence nd Quentin sino dnt think 50, think he wouldat want ero know, ‘And when he was feng even bette and had regina the pounds hed shed ght away nthe hospital, though the refigeratr stated oil op ith onginic what germ and yap a skins ik hes ‘ied about his cholestrol coun, Stephen funni), tld Cuca ‘he could manage by himself now, a di he are asking exeryne win visited how he looked and everyone side looked gen so uch better than a few weeks ago, which dd ibe with wht anyone had told himat hatin; but then twa geting harder and and too owe looked, to answer such a question honesty wen among them Seles they wanted tobe honest both for honesty sake and (es Dono ‘thought to prepare forthe worst, because dl been ooking ke ths so lng, at east secred 0 long, that twa she aay ben ke {his how did he look before, but it was oly fe month, ad these ‘words, pale and wan looking and frag, hada they alwajs applied ‘Aad one Thursday Fle, meeting Leis atthe door ofthe wading Said a they rode up together inthe lear how ihe rel? Bet ye sechow he Lewis sid tary he's ine he's perfectly health and Een derstood that ofcourse Lewis dd think he was perfor heal but that he wast worse, and that was tr, but wasn it wel alae heartless to al ike that Seems inatensive to me Quentin sad oe know what you mein, I remember once taking to ral somebody afterall, who ha volusteered todo five hours e week of elce work the Crisis Center (I knows said Hes), and Frank was gong on sat {his guy dlagnosed almost year-ago, and wo muck further along wht been complaining to Frank on the phone about the inference of Some doctor, and had gotten quite abuse about the doctor an Eas 1s saying there was no reason tobe 50 psc the implication bing that he, Frank, wouldnt behaves tational and Tsai brely ale

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