Assistance locating an old quotation
catpandaddy
this at least twenty years ago. I seem to remember the author being someone
such as Kurt Vonnegut or someone with a similar writing style.
The excerpt in question was about the absurdity of the human condition, and
given as an example is the image of someone talking behind the closed door
of a glass phonebooth, full of animated gestures and expressions, and
without the benefit of actually hearing the conversation, it takes on the
appearance of some kind of absurd pantomime.
Without more to go on, trying to Google for the results has turned up
nothing, so I hope someone ongroup may be familiar with the passage I am
trying to track down.
Mike Paulsen
This the one?
Bach, Kent, Exit-existentialism;: A philosophy of self-awareness,
Wadsworth Pub. Co, 1973. ISBN 0-534-00309-5
http://online.sfsu.edu/~kbach/oldies/exit3&4.pdf
page 37
"Or, have you ever watched some-
body else in action when you didn't know what he was doing?
A good example is seeing someone talking in a phone booth. His
moving lips might strike you as absurd, as would your own if you
were making faces at yourself in the mirror. Each moment of
motion seems unconnected with the rest; the series is frag-
mented. Silent movies are particularly good examples of this
fragmentation. By distracting and detracting from purpose, si-
lence and jerkiness enhance the portrayal of the ludicrous and
the pathetic, as Charlie Chaplin so adroitly showed."
catpandaddy
"Mike Paulsen" <mpau...@charter.net> wrote in message
news:tvCIm.2468$ky1....@newsfe14.iad...
> catpandaddy wrote:
>>
>> The excerpt in question was about the absurdity of the human condition,
>> and given as an example is the image of someone talking behind the closed
>> door of a glass phonebooth, full of animated gestures and expressions,
>> and without the benefit of actually hearing the conversation, it takes on
>> the appearance of some kind of absurd pantomime.
>
>
> Bach, Kent, Exit-existentialism;: A philosophy of self-awareness,
> Wadsworth Pub. Co, 1973. ISBN 0-534-00309-5
>
> http://online.sfsu.edu/~kbach/oldies/exit3&4.pdf
Thankee that's the one. I've been trying to google for it on
half-remembered phrases for the last month or so. Do you read a lot of
philosophy?
Mike Paulsen
Not a lot, but my google-fu is strong this morning. Got it in <30 seconds.
http://www.google.com/search?q="phone+booth"+absurd+human+watch