"Robert Charles Wilson - Divided by Infinity" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilson Robert Charles)

тАЬYou donтАЩt seem especially surprised by this.тАЭ
тАЬImplying that I know more than IтАЩm saying.тАЭ He smiled
ruefully. тАЬIтАЩve never been in this position before, though youтАЩre
right, it doesnтАЩt surprise me. Did you know, Mr. Keller, that I am
immortal?тАЭ
Here we go, I thought. The pitch. Ziegler didnтАЩt care about
the books. I had come for an explanation; he wanted to sell me a
religion.
тАЬAnd you, Mr. Keller. YouтАЩre immortal, too.тАЭ
What was I doing here, in this shabby place with this shabby
old man? There was nothing to say.
тАЬBut I canтАЩt explain it,тАЭ Ziegler went on; тАЬthat is, not in the
depth it deserves. ThereтАЩs a volume hereтАФIтАЩll lend it to youтАФтАЭ He
stood, precariously, and huffed across the room.
I looked at his books again while he rummaged for the
volume in question. Below the precambrian deposits of the occult
was a small sediment of literature. First editions, presumably
valuable.
And not all familiar.
Had Ernest Hemingway written a book called Pamplona? (But
here it was, its Scribners dust jacket protected in brittle mylar.)
Cromwell and Company, by Charles Dickens? Under the Absolute, by
Aldous Huxley?
тАЬAh, books.тАЭ Ziegler, smiling, came up behind me. тАЬThey bob
like corks on an ocean. Float between worlds, messages in bottles.
This will tell you what you need to know.тАЭ
The book he gave me was cheaply made, with a utilitarian
olive-drab jacket. You Will Never Die, by one Carl G. Soziere.
тАЬCome back when youтАЩve read it.тАЭ
тАЬI will,тАЭ I lied.


тАЬI had a feeling,тАЭ Deirdre said, тАЬyouтАЩd come downstairs with
one of those.тАЭ
The Soziere book. тАЬYouтАЩve heard of it?тАЭ
тАЬNot until I took this job. Mr. Ziegler gave me a copy. But I
speak from experience. Every once in a long while, somebody
comes in with a question or a complaint. They go upstairs. And
they come back down with that.тАЭ
At which point I realized I had left the paperbacks in ZieglerтАЩs
room. I suppose I could have gone back for them, but it seemed
somehow churlish. But it was a loss. Not that I loved the books,
particularly, but they were the only concrete evidence I had of the
mysteryтАФthey were the mystery. Now Ziegler had them back in his
possession. And I had You Will Never Die.
тАЬIt looks like a crank book.тАЭ
тАЬOh, it is,тАЭ Deirdre said. тАЬKind of a parallel-worlds
argument, you know, J.W. Dunne and so on, with some quantum
physics thrown in; actually, IтАЩm surprised a major publisher didnтАЩt
pick it up.тАЭ