Now You See It (2011)
“Death was coming now. He was certain of it; I could see it in his face.
And yet, instead—maddeningly now!—Max said, “You never understood me for a moment, did you? Never understood the endless time and work I expended to perfect my skill.”
What tangent now? I thought. Is he going to shoot Harry or not?
Harry was clearly wondering the same thing. He stared at Max uncertainly, anticipating death, yet wondering at the same time when it was due.
“I have been the best,” Max was saying. “As my father... was before me. The best.
“And why? Because I saw to everything. Everything. Consistency of attitude. Consistency of detail.”
In an eerie way, it was like hearing myself speak. Max and I resembled one another. Our voices (when I had one) were alike.
And certainly the words he spoke, I had spoken—if not word for word then, surely, feeling for feeling.
“Consistency of detail,” he repeated. “Speaking clearly to the last row as to the first. Speaking to my audience as though the words are coming for the first time instead of being repeated verbatim as they’ve been for twenty years.”MoreLess
And yet, instead—maddeningly now!—Max said, “You never understood me for a moment, did you? Never understood the endless time and work I expended to perfect my skill.”
What tangent now? I thought. Is he going to shoot Harry or not?
Harry was clearly wondering the same thing. He stared at Max uncertainly, anticipating death, yet wondering at the same time when it was due.
“I have been the best,” Max was saying. “As my father... was before me. The best.
“And why? Because I saw to everything. Everything. Consistency of attitude. Consistency of detail.”
In an eerie way, it was like hearing myself speak. Max and I resembled one another. Our voices (when I had one) were alike.
And certainly the words he spoke, I had spoken—if not word for word then, surely, feeling for feeling.
“Consistency of detail,” he repeated. “Speaking clearly to the last row as to the first. Speaking to my audience as though the words are coming for the first time instead of being repeated verbatim as they’ve been for twenty years.”MoreLess
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