For what is yet to come tomorrow has possibilities, and we must think of it, the simplest glimpse of that possibility of goodness". Ishmael Beah offers his own tales, stories of incredible resilience -- living in the radiance of tomorrow -- in his wrenching memoir, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, and now in this beautiful novel, Radiance of Tomorrow.
Whereas many writers strain to find words to describe the unimaginable, these images possess a stark and simple eloquence: glimpses of what was before, during and after, caught and preserved in the click of a shutter.
The data releases are not all the same, but they can include records of which phones connected to which cell phone towers, providing a trace of caller movements; with whom the connection was made, providing a map of social networks; and what purchases were made, even through simple phones, providing a glimpse of economic activity.
We were immersed in electronically produced surround sound, but granted occasional glimpses of simple human activities – a boy with a kite, some dancing, a procession of pregnant women.
Nothing in the children's entertainment of today, candy-colored animation hopped up on computer tricks, can prepare young or old for this frightening glimpse of simpler times.
Yet huge numbers of visitors come here for a nostalgic glimpse of simpler times, personified by the picturesque Amish, who make up almost half the 39,000 residents of rural Holmes County.
For the next few months, New Yorkers, long used to concrete, overcrowded subways and skyscrapers, will get a chance to glimpse a simpler way of life at the park, and maybe make a new four-legged friend.
And when you put it down - with wadded-up hankies surrounding the foot of your chair, I might add - it is with the same feeling that you leave the great Fellini film "Amarcord": you have glimpsed a simple human truth, brilliantly stated.
Along the way, either through cocaine-fueled conversation or simple flashbacks, we catch glimpses of Miles' career (behind the scenes at the recording session for Porgy and Bess, for example) which are often eclipsed by the haunting memory of his tempestuous romance with Taylor.
The audience is hushed, the moment is lovely and for a while you can savor the quiet pleasures of The Bridges Of Madison County and glimpse the simpler show it should have dared to be.
