Still Life by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Still Life

Page 77

They refuse annotation, lest their rituals be mimicked by the very ones they seek to escape.

The Cast of the Castle

William I, Prince of Orange - A man who speaks only in aphorisms and footnotes, often quoting himself. He believes history ended in 1913 and everything since has been a rehearsal for a poorly done, insipid play; a po-mo unreliability, a call for the lack of responsibility, a nervous self-indulgence .

Willem – Alexander - The younger heir, who insists on being addressed as "The Interim." He wears ceremonial robes to breakfast and refuses to acknowledge the existence of brunch.

Albertina Agnes Mitchell - A former opera singer turned Aristocrat by decree. She communicates in arias and legal disclaimers. Her room smells faintly of lavender and litigation.

Queen Maxima Furrbaby - A feline presence, possibly literal. She is either a cat or a woman who has become one through ritual and refusal. She presides over the Projection Room and is said to hiss at films with too much exposition.

Oscar Pynchon - The American interloper. A writer of financial success but literary ambiguity. He bought his way into the castle. His room is technically his co-op. He was sold shares of