November 24, 2013

The Umbrella Man

Dallas. November 22nd, 1963. The only man in Daley Plaza under an umbrella!

"The Umbrella Man dangles around history’s neck like a fetish.

We wonder whether a genuine mystery is being concealed here or whether any similar scrutiny of a minute section of time and space would yield similar strangenesses—gaps, inconsistencies, warps, and bubbles in the surface of circumstance. Perhaps, as with the elements of matter, investigation passes a threshold of common sense and enters a sub-atomic realm where laws are mocked, where persons have the life-span of beta particles and the transparency of neutrinos, and where a rough kind of averaging out must substitute for absolute truth. The truth about those seconds in Dallas is especially elusive; the search for it seems to demonstrate how perilously empiricism verges on magic." -- John Updike

Posted by gerardvanderleun at November 24, 2013 10:12 PM
Bookmark and Share

Comments:

HOME

"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

Great story. I love the guy's symbolism. He must have known no one else would understand, but that didn't matter.

The entire Israeli Parliament should come to work tomorrow with umbrellas.

Posted by: james wilson at November 24, 2013 11:18 PM

Very good use of Arvo Part's Spiegel im Spiegel.

Posted by: Jewel at November 25, 2013 10:03 AM

I'm with you Wilson. Hell, Americans, you know, real Americans, ought to stand outside the White House with them. Shit, I'm going to buy a black umbrella this afternoon. On December 15th, I'll be photographed holding it outside the White House.

Posted by: Casca at November 25, 2013 11:07 AM

A black umbrella movement would really throw the moonbats for another loop. They can barely handle the tea partiers.

Posted by: Jewel at November 25, 2013 12:49 PM

Dealey Plaza

Posted by: Ed at November 25, 2013 5:10 PM

He could have had a reason to carry an umbrella. Such as he needed sun protection.*


*I have been burned bad enough that the thought of carrying an umbrella on a sunny day wasn't just a passing fancy.

Posted by: Mikey NTH at November 25, 2013 5:53 PM

I lived in Florida, I would see many people carrying open umbrellas on sunny days.

Casca, I missed it, what is the significance of Dec 15th?

Posted by: Potsie at November 26, 2013 6:46 AM