“Eyes Shallow as Paint”

Courage is easy on a summer night. Your skin needs no protection: the sun is down, the wind is warm. There’s a loud party across the street, the song that’s been playing nonstop on the radio since June drifts in through the open windows. Long into the night, you can still distinguish the objects around you in the murky twilight.

But what about early November? In a month, there will be songs sung in a minor key – I Wonder as I Wander, one of my favorites– to acknowledge the darkness and find a path through it. But not yet. In the thick of autumn, the only reprieves are hot beverages and spy novels: warmth and escape.

Speaking of which, I’ve been reading John le Carré nonstop for the past two weeks. Below are two perfect excerpts, as inarguably accurate as Flaubert:

“She was one of those women whose every movement seems to come from their elbows.”

(from Little Drummer Girl)

“eyes shallow as paint.”

(from The Night Manager)