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Quote by Laura Spinney

“A different narrative structure is needed, and a new language. Piqued by their humiliation, scientists went on to furnish us with a vocabulary of flu – with concepts such as immune memory, genetic susceptibility and post viral fatigue. Couched in this new language – not a poetic language, perhaps, but one that allowed tou to make predictions, and to test them against the historical reports – disparate events began to appear connected, with other, once obvious links atrophied and died (no, it wasn’t the punishment of an angry god; yes, it was at least partly responsible for the subsequent wave of melancholy). The pandemic took on a radically new shape: the one we recognize today.”

Quote by Laura Spinney

Work

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World

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Author

Laura Spinney

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“Edilio lay on the steps of town hall feeling as weak as a kitten. He had barely heard Caine’s big speech. He couldn’t have cared less. There was nothing he could do, not with delirium spinning his head. He coughed hard, too hard. It wracked his body each time he did it so that he dreaded the next cough. His stomach was clenched in knots. Every muscle in his body ached. He was vaguely aware that he was saying something in between coughs. “Mamá. Mamá. Sálvame.” Save me, mother. “Santa María, sálvame,” he begged, and coughed so hard he smashed his head against the steps. Death was near, he felt it. Death reached through his swimming, disordered mind and he felt its cold hand clutching his heart. Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.”