'rereading this book ... I try to recognise the person I was...'

the diversions of satan 

'dined at llan thomas. a family party. major thomas showed me his stereoscopic slides 'the diversions of satan' which he bought in india. they were made for an indian prince, but were not pronounced enough to suit his taste.' 

- kilvert, diaries, on this day 1872. 

this made horsemouth search for stereoscopic slides - the idea being that the image(s) are taken from slightly different positions producing a 3D image in the mind of the viewer if the correct apparatus is used. 

as a child horsemouth used to own a set and a viewer (a 3D viewmaster) for the tv series UFO. 

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it's the morning. greyish. coolish. horsemouth thinks the basho deep north stuff kicks off again tomorrow (as he climbs another mountain). 

he has pulled down e.m. cioran's anathemas and admirations down from the pile. it it is a book 'goverened by the fragment... the epigrams constitute a series of perplexities'. 

it ends with a chapter rereading... an apology (of sorts) for his earlier a history of decay and its madness (and, once again, horsemouth has abandoned reading it).

'rereading this book, which is now over thirty years old, I try to recognise the person I was...' 

a friend has this problem (horsemouth probably has it too). they are trying to recognise themselves back 40 years ago. back in the mid-80ies. a very strange time. 

yesterday horsemouth went for a brief walk up on the common. he's just not up there enough and doesn't make enough effort to get round the other sights in the neighbourhood.

later a phonecall.