In his last interview, conducted while writing his great, posthumously published novel, 2666 and finally published in English last month, the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño discussed parenting:
In the end, one could talk for hours about the relationship between a father and a son. The only clear thing is that a father has to be willing to be spat upon by his son as many times as the son wishes to do it. Even still the father will not have paid a tenth of what he owes because the son never asked to be born. If you brought him into this world, the least you can do is put up with whatever insult he wants to offer.On daughters, he stopped:
"I won't say anymore. I'll start to cry. The only explanation I could give would be to cry. It's beyond the beyond.Sounds like someone else's kid wants to be a synchronized swimmer when she grows up, too.
"The Son Never Asked To Be Born" [biblioklept.org via @errolmorris]
Related? the vomit-proof vest?
Definitely related: Nathan actually thinks about Bolsano's idea at DadWagon. Those guys are really firing on all cylinders.
Wow, man. That's what I've been trying to say for three years. And yeah, Nathan's running smooth over there. That's a nice thing thing to read on New Year's Eve, a week before his birthday.
Thanks, once again, for giving us newbies something a little meaty to think about. My brain has been shrinking in its own juice, what with all the Top 10 lists that come out this time of year. Happy New Year to ya.
Yeah, absolutely the most sop-on thing I will read for a good long time. Many thanks for posting.