From Strindberg's "The Ghost Sonata"

Took a break from Strindberg's "more strictly" autobiographical stuff (still have The Son of a Servant to read) to read a few plays. I started with The Ghost Sonata.


Excerpt:

COLONEL.  Shall we make conversation?
HUMMEL.  [Speaking slowly and with frequent pauses] Talk of the weather, which we know all about? Ask on another's state of health, which we know just as well? I prefer silence. Then thoughts become audible, and we can see the past. Silence can hide nothing -- but words can. I read the other day that the differentiation of languages had its origin in the tribal secrets hidden from outsiders. This means that every language is a code,... 

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