Tatyana Tolstaya - You read, move your lips, figure out the words, and it's like you're in two

You read, move your lips, figure out the words, and it's like you're in two places at the same time: you're sitting or lying with your legs curled up, your hand groping in the bowl, but you can see different worlds, far-off worlds that maybe never existed but still seem real. You run or sail or race in a sleigh--you're running away from someone, or you yourself have decided to attack--your heart thumps, life flies by, and it's wondrous: you can live as many different lives as there are books to read.

- Tatyana Tolstaya

source: Tatyana Tolstaya (2016). “The Slynx”, p.127, New York Review of Books

topic: Running, Real, Lying, Different Worlds, Wondrous, Sleighs