The Empty Chair (36 page)

12
. “It wasn't until I got back to Manhattan that I realized how much I envied him this moment—for I too had relentlessly searched for the one I'd loved and lost. The difference between Kura and me was that I had given up. It was because of his example that I resumed my search, not long after his death.” [From a later conversation—
Ed
.]

13
. The ancient practice of meditation amongst human remains.

14
. Queenie later told me that, as faithfully recorded in Kura's diaries, his host mixed past and present tenses at random.

15
. Rereading Ryder's tale, I was struck by the image of the shattered remnants of the chair burning in the fireplace—if you'll recall, Charley's wife instructed him to do so—and was reminded of the sleigh burning at the end of
Citizen Kane
. I could see “Ballendine's Second Penny” melting too, but it was only a cinematic reverie; while Rosebud uncovered a lost childhood Elysium, the former revealed nothing. (Or, more tellingly, Nothingness.)

While assembling this book, I came across a passage in
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
, and thought it germane: “Creation is like a peepul tree: birds come to eat its fruit, or take shelter under its branches, men cool themselves in its shade, but some may hang themselves on it. Yet the tree continues to lead its quiet life, unconcerned with and unaware of all the uses it is put to.”