The story goes that Sir Edwin Lutyens wanted to build a house for his mother-in-law, the Countess of Lytton. During the drawing of the building plans by one of his assistants, Lutyens noticed that a window altered the general composition of the rear facade of the house. But the wall that enclosed the backyard was very close to this window and could neither be seen nor related to the rest of the facade from anywhere. For this reason, Lutyens’ young collaborator, unconcerned, dismissing it as important, told him:
—This is not a problem because no one will see this lack of geometric rigor.
But the Architect answered, impassively:
—God does see it.
We all see certain landscapes, but we don’t enjoy them until an artist discovers them for us. This happened to me with this story, thanks to which I met Oscar Tusquets. It described my obsession with every detail in everything I touch. Because, in the long run, everything is seen. No trick, no cheat ends up being forgiven.
His writings that I don’t understand remind me that I still have a lot to learn in this life. The ones I’m lucky enough to understand, however, are delicious. I share some of my favourite ones in the following notes: