"The brain is a mind-boggling redesign. But it can't escape its past. [...] She pictured those mangled Kearney mansions, glorious old wooden Victorians enlarged with brick in the 1930s and again in the 1970s with pressboard and aluminum."

— Powers, Richard (b. 1957)


Work Title
Place of Publication
New York
Publisher
Picador
Date
2006
Metaphor
"The brain is a mind-boggling redesign. But it can't escape its past. [...] She pictured those mangled Kearney mansions, glorious old wooden Victorians enlarged with brick in the 1930s and again in the 1970s with pressboard and aluminum."
Metaphor in Context
The doctor elaborated. "The brain is a mind-boggling redesign. But it can't escape its past. It can only add to what's already there."

She pictured those mangled Kearney mansions, glorious old wooden Victorians enlarged with brick in the 1930s and again in the 1970s with pressboard and aluminum. "What's his reptile brain ... doing? What kind of nice activity?"
(p. 17)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Richard Powers, The Echo Maker (New York: Picador, 2006).
Date of Entry
06/08/2015

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.