Edward St. Aubyn (b. 1960)

A Clue to the Exit

London

Chatto & Windus

2000

"It was generally as he passed Didcot that the possibility of enjoyment, excitement and lightness of spirit slowly returned to his terrorised mind. Perhaps he was still in the shadow of that habit; perhaps his mind would clear once the train broke free of that foggy junction."

The conference had taken him back to Oxford for the first time since he had been a student there. In those happily bygone days, he had found a city living under the spell of the high suicide rate for which it was celebrated throughout the world. Apart from the tramps who lined the crooked lanes and hideous shopping precincts with an air of belonging, everyone looked as if they were hurrying home to an overdose. After rare and reluctant tutorials he would sprint back to the station feeling that a missed connection might turn into a life-threatening incident. It was generally as he passed Didcot that the possibility of enjoyment, excitement and lightness of spirit slowly returned to his terrorised mind. Perhaps he was still in the shadow of that habit; perhaps his mind would clear once the train broke free of that foggy junction.
(p. 132)

Light::Shadow

Reading

Edward St. Aubyn, A Clue to the Exit (London: Chatto & Windus, 2000).

09/19/2015