Brevity Is the Soul of Wit

While reading about the horrific events in Norway over the weekend, we were taken aback by the following:

"The man accused of the killing spree in Norway was deeply influenced by a small group of American bloggers and writers who have warned for years about the threat from Islam, lacing his 1,500-page manifesto with quotations from them, as well as copying multiple passages from the tract of the Unabomber."

We had to read that twice: not 1,500 words; 1,500 pages.  That's longer than War and Peace.  That's longer than Moby-Dick.  That's not quite as long as Remembrance of Things Past, but, then again, Proust's book was seven volumes, and rather a lot of it was about cake.

We understand that Norwegian contains words like "Dampskipsundervannsstyrkeprøvemaskinerikonstruksjonsvanskeligheter," which means either something relating to the difficulties one might encounter when testing underwater machinery or "penguin." But still, 1,500 pages seems like a hell of a lot of dead trees just to say, "I hate Muslims."

Our point is simply this: Beware of reclusive weirdos who have an obsessive, possibly compulsive, need to write and write and write, whether they truly have anything to say or not.

This is the Solipsist, concluding his 951st post.

Solipsistography
"Killings in Norway Spotlight Anti-Muslim Thought in U.S."
My Little Norway