Sunday, February 10, 2019

the last book I ever read (Crudo: A Novel by Olivia Laing, excerpt seven)

from Crudo: A Novel by Olivia Laing:

It was like a year had gone by in a single day. 18 August 2017. First Mary’s dog had been attacked and had to go to hospital, then there was an accident on the A14. Everyone was late, it was intolerable, she was so nervous, her body was an inhospitable territory she could never get out of. She breathed in various places. That was what you do, you breathe. The dog’s skin had been torn off on his flank, right where his leg joined his body, it was a bad wound, he’d be fine but right now he was scared and sore and about to be given general anaesthetic. Kathy loved that dog, he was pretty much her favourite person. She’d wanted him as a witness to her wedding, even if confined to a car boot and not actually able to view proceedings. Anyway she painted her eyelids with black lines that flicked at the rim. Anyway there was thunder, lightning, a biblical downpour, anyway she put hazel leaves around a china platter that had once belonged to Doris Lessing. They iced the cakes together, bickering. They stuck strawberries on, Kathy was competitive even on her wedding day.



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