rememberherby.Amongthemost
lastingthingsleftnowofthegirlwere
theseceramictablets,theoriginalone
beginningwithFanny’sirrepressible
salutation:“Iwishallpeopleinthe
futureallthebest.”
Ononeof my lastnightswith
Martin,weweresittingintheliving
roomabovehislittleshop,analpine
rainglazingthewindow.Therewere
film-projectorlightsandcoolpaint-
ings,ceramicantelopeskulls,and
handmadeplatesandcups.Therewas
a bookshelfwitha littlenoteaboveit,
entitled‘TheJourneyofThings’,urging
a visitortoeitherleaveanobjector
takeone,thensendphotographic
proofoftheobject’sjourney.Martin’s
wife,anartistnamedMasha,came
andwent,andhisdaughter– at11,the
youngestoffivechildren;hehasthree
froma previousmarriage,andMasha
hasone– wasintheotherroomwith
a friendwatchinga movie.
I toldMartinthat,ina weirdway,
theprojectoftryingtomemorialise
thismoment– tocapturethefatuous-
ness,conflict,anddespairofit– gave
memorefaiththanthemomentitself.
Byleapingyourmindtothefuture,
theassumptionofnewunderstand-
ingthatcomeswiththepassageof
timecouldactuallyrevealitselfinthe
presentmoment.
Martin consideredthis for a
momentandsaid,“Workingforthis
projectinsomeaspectsprobably
helpsmetosurvive.Whenyousee
somedevelopments,youseeina
muchwidertimescale.”
“Meaning you don’t get as
depressedaboutit?”I asked.
“Maybe. Sometimes it makes
memorerelaxed...Itgivesyoua
d i st a nc e.”
Minecraft,porn,kitties,Fortnite,
onlineshopping– thisiswhoweare.
It’sa bigselfie,Martinsaid.Hisjob
wasn’ttocensororedit;it wasmerely
torecordtheflowofinformationon
theceramictabletsandthenhopethe
tabletsdothetalkingsomeday,letting
thefuturedecidewhowewere,inall
ofourcontradictions.
Formosthoursina day,Martinwas
thinkingabouthowtocommunicate
throughtime.Onsomefarawaybeach
ina farawayfuture,someunknown
creaturemightpickuphistoken,as
theSpaniardoncefoundMartin’sbot-
tle,andgiventheaddresscontained
onit,findushiddenjustbeneaththe
surfaceofthisplanet.Allofourwoes
andelationswillbetheirs,then.
“Whynot?”asked Martin. “Itwill
onlytakeone.”Wanttonominateyourfavouritebook
asoneofthe 1000 mostinspiringbooks
ever?MartinKunzeandhisteamhave
setupawebsitewhereReader’sDigest
readersfromaroundtheworldcan
submitsuggestionsaboutwhichbooks
shouldbeincludedinthisamazing
humanhistoryproject.Toparticipatein
thishistory-makingproject,gotowww.
memory-of-mankind.com/1000books.FROMGQ(NOVEMBER2018),© 2018 BY
MICHAEL PATERNITI, W W W.GQ.COM
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