This was fantastic. 5 ⭐️ out of 5. An exegesis on the power relations in the dynamic of unrequieted love. Sparse prose with acute and precise analysis. Here's a quote: "The trouble with making power the basis of your judgement, rather than actions, is that virtually everyone has a let-out; they can all claim lack of power when they need to. Because everybody’s powerless in the face of someone and something. Everybody’s got a seam of powerlessness in them, in their perception of themselves vis-à-vis existence as a whole, which they then deploy. And that’s why the world looks the way it does. Everybody’s got a chink in their power, even when they know they’ve got power and responsibility, which they are aware they can exploit in order to understand why they have to act as they do. Morality starts with the individual. One must demand it of everybody. Those who have power are born powerless and that’s the feeling that stays with them all their lives, especially at times when they are acting wrongly. Then they remember that they were bullied in the school playground and beaten by their father and realise it’s all somebody else’s fault this time, too.” . . #wilfuldisregard #lenaandersson #unrequietedlove #power #books #bookstagram #bookblr #literature #love #academia #book #bookshelf