baudrillaird--cool memories

''fragmentary writing is, ultimately, democratic writing. each fragment enjoys an equal distinction, the most banal one finds its exceptional reader. each, in its turn, has its hour of glory.

''of course, each fragment could become a book. but the point is that it will not do so, for the ellipse is superior to the straight line. it is also a matter of laziness; one has no right to waste time to no good end, anymore than to exploit oneself to no good end. and a matter, too, of compression of words, which have done so much work already.

''another promise of fragment, is that they alone will survive the catastrophe, the destruction of meaning and language. like the flies in the plane crash which are the only survivors because they are ultralight. like the flotsam in poe's maelstrom. the lightest items sink the most slowly into the abyss. it is these one must hang on to.''

jean baudrillard, fragments-cool memories iii, 1991-95; english by emily agar.