Albert Cossery - The Jokers

"Like his characters, Cossery rose late." (vii, Buchan — introduction)

"Like Baudelaire, he has neither compassion nor sympathy for the poor, only a limitless curiosity. Cossery is fascinated by the division of labor in the very pit of society." (vii, Buchan — introduction)

"Cossery's heroes do not seek virtue, knowledge, or salvation, but, in a world that is racing mad, only a natural and malodorous contentment. Cossery's manifesto is: The most terrible thing is not to be poor, but to be ashamed of it." (vii, Buchan — introduction)

"Like his characters, Cossery rose late." (vii, Buchan — introduction)

"It was as if he wanted to disburden the desert of its sand." (4)

"Karim's languourous pose was meant to suggest an atmosphere of luxury and decadence, but in fact it hid the state of nervous tension that had been racking him since he woke up." (6)

"Every day the first thing he did was to go out on the terrace and revel in the spectacle afforded by his privileged position. He still hadn't gotten over the novelty of it: even reading the paper, until now the most essential ingredient of his happiness (proving as it did that the universe was fertile with insanity of all kinds), now came second to this daily tour of the horizon." (11)

"In an era of propeller planes, young Karim found it wildly appealing to resist the nefarious progress of a world infatuated with the mechanical by making kites — such superbly frivolous toys. He felt a reassuring sense of joy whenever he saw them in the sky — lightweight, peaceful constructions taunting the ponderous planes, those crude machines devoid of poetry." (13)

""I know two very simple things," Heykal said. "The rest is of no importance." ... "Number one is that the world we live in is governed by the most revolting bunch of crooks to ever defile the soil of this planet." ... "Number two is that you must never take them seriously, for that is exactly what they want." (41)

"... destiny magically transformed me from a jailbird into a rich and respectable businessman. A beautiful story — very instructive — and I'll tell it to you some day in all its glorious detail because I know you'll appreciate it. But the short version is I earned all my money in such a crazy, ridiculous fashion that my eyes were opened to the madness of the world. Now I'd like to put this money to use — in a way that isn't sensible or just. I'd like to make a contribution to the madness of the world." (43)

"As if it cost a fortune to entertain yourself? All you had to do was look around: the spectacle was free." (43)

"What they didn't understand was that at school their children inhabited an ararchic world that was perfectly to their liking, and that Urfy — despite his bald head and thick steel-rimmed glasses — was a dangerous practical joker. He spoke to his charges in a language that openly contradicted the language of adults. He inculcated them with a single principle: to know that everything grown-ups told them was false and that they should ignore it." (53)

"See, in a factory you slave away like beasts — there's never time to talk to your co-workers. All your conversations come back to the job, the awful pay, or the contagious misery that tears families apart. Nothing but painful subjects. Bur in prison there is downtime; you talk for the pleasure of getting to know one another. It's funny, but a prison is less sinister than any workplace." (58)

"... madness and its ways held nothing terrifying. He could live as easily with his mother as with any human being. Madness makes no difference. He seized onto this as if it were his alvation, and, looking at his mother, he began to smile." (136)

"Then he thought he'd make a kite — not for financial consideration but as a pure disinterested work of art." (137)

"He had turned an executioner into a victim, a glorious example of civic virtue and self-sacrifice for generations to come, thus perpetuating the eternal fraud." (145)