Page 120

By Jack Joseph Smith

Exactly. It was just too much. Why don't you write a book? About what? The rise and fall of me on the way to Popeship. How about on, the persecution of the Jews? I need anouther beer Daniel. However, I must say that I don't drink as much, when with you. Of course, that might be because I spend too much time gagging. Whatever's right. I nodded my head, like an imp, went away and came back with two more beers. I must say Daniel, that I also find humor in my life. I have won almost every battle out of fear of losing. The entire world relates this way. I watch my father's business friends from the racketers to the so called executives. There all scared to death, and that's the very thing that makes them appear to be powerful. The higher the castle, the higher the wall. Let them go on with their madness, I'm leaving. Maybe you ought to become a politican? I'm headed for an island. Which one? How's Tahiti sound? Sounds like an island. Maybe I'll become an artist like the Dutchmen? Could be, but he was a banker first. It's a shame that people always have to be driven to places. If only they could see them first, and then go over and take a clear look at them. I've been thinking. How long do you think it would take to know everyone in this bar. Let's consider the culture differences prevailing. How long do you think it would take. Not only to learn the people,

Original Scan

Page 120

AI Interpretation

GPT

Michael jokes about books, Jews, politicians, islands, Tahiti, and Dutch artists while admitting that fear drives nearly every battle and then turning his attention to the bar itself as a whole culture that could be studied person by person.

Escape fantasies keep surfacing, but they never fully detach from the business world and social fear he says he is leaving. The sudden curiosity about knowing everyone in the bar shifts the mood from self-display to observation, as if the room itself has become material.

Claude

Michael theorizes power as fear: his father's 'business friends from the racketers to the so called executives' are 'all scared to death, and that's the very thing that makes them appear to be powerful. The higher the castle, the higher the wall.' He talks of leaving - 'I'm headed for an island... How's Tahiti sound?' - and toys with becoming 'an artist like the Dutchmen,' to which Daniel notes 'he was a banker first.' Daniel then opens the page's real question, how long it would take 'to know everyone in this bar,' 'Not only to learn the people' - a thought that runs onto the next page, toward the bar's whole jukebox world as a society to be understood.