Because there are too many thoughts folded in, one upon the other, interleaved, without apparent order, I fear there will be a somewhat random unfolding of experiences and interpretations.
One thing I read (in Istanbul) and was forcibly struck by, was Anne Carson (in Economy of the Unlost) quoting (in a footnote on page 105) Thomas Carlyle:
“I was strong, of unknown strength, a spirit, almost a god . . . Thus had the Everlasting No peeled authoritively through all the recesses of my being, of my Me: and then it was that my whole Me stood up, in native God-created majesty and with emphasis recorded its Protest. Such a Protest, the most important transaction in life might be called.”
I knew I wanted to start the posts from Istanbul, though I didn’t quite know why, I think it’s in the nature of a shout – that “Everlasting No” of Carlyle.
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