Context and Reference

Walking in one of Prague's many interconnected parks, it's possible to spot this little blue head perched on a wall in someone's house. In a museum, sterile and possibly behind glass, one might pass this by, or at most see it as one piece among many. But here on this wall, there is something moving and tender about this sculpture.Perhaps it's the red brick behind the head or the matter-of-fact way it faces the road. Regardless, you stop to look back. You  see the subtle asymmetry in the face in the way you might see your own face in a mirror. Character emerges from that face, as meaning emerges from Sis's book, arising from its context, "quietly shimmering, motionless, as if frozen in time."The Three Golden Keys yields plenty of meaning all by itself. But reading it while walking through these streets, I'm moved by the power of place. Setting is more than an element to employ in fiction. Used with skill, setting is story.