The Mirror

"This is a novella written by Richard Skinner. It’s one of two novellas in the collection called The Mirror. It imagines that the composer, Eric Satie, has died. So far, so true. He finds himself in limbo and he’s faced with the decision of choosing one memory to take with him into the afterlife. That premise allows us to take a trip down memory lane—this particular lane being early 20th century Paris. You get this cast of people from Debussy to Picasso. It’s a really playful story in itself–and interesting as a meditation on creative devotion and the meaning of life. There are many big and important questions handled with wit. “He talks about green Fridays as being the colour of envy, envy and lies. Monday as being grey ” Also, Eric Satie is painted as a synaesthete. He experiences his synaesthesia (I believe it’s called “ordinal linguistic personification”) as days of the week being attributed with specific colours and personalities. The book is set over the course of a week. We travel through the days of the week which have different attributes. He talks about green Fridays as being the colour of envy, envy and lies. Monday as being grey, I think he says “as doves and Jesus’s eyes”—which is an incredibly specific reference point. The reason I chose this is because it is a wonderfully realistic portrayal of how synaesthesia would affect or influence someone on a day-to-day basis. It is a really well executed portrayal of a specific kind of synesthesia. It is also interesting within the context of the story of Eric Satie and 20th century Paris."