Four Minutes

story forty-three · figures 127–129

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FOUR MINUTES · WHAT THE ARCHIVE KEEPS AND WHAT IT DOES NOT — v.10 superseded · date of supersession held · elements not held FOUR MINUTES · WHAT THE ARCHIVE KEEPS AND WHAT IT DOES NOT v.10 superseded · date of supersession held · elements not held v.10 the print struck on the first evening SUPERSEDED · the DATE of supersession is held · THE ELEMENTS ARE NOT v.11 the standard version, at time of filing runs FOUR MINUTES SHORTER than the version described · the difference is not itemized v.12 the standard version as of this morning and the difference is not itemized the ticket records attendance on the first evening ATTENDANCE IS NOT A VERSION the screening report first evening: print struck from v.10 no incidents the review filed after the first evening retained for training purposes the corrected filing submitted at the filer’s own cost the schedule is free to consult · the correction is appended THE ARCHIVE KEEPS THE DATE IT LOST THE FILM, AND NOT THE FILM. And the standard version moves again — v.12, this morning — while he is still apologizing for the last one. There is no ground to stand on, and the Office is scrupulously accurate about where it isn’t. "THE REVIEWER’S ACCOUNT OF THE THIRD SEASON IS ACCURATE IN EVERY PARTICULAR."
127 · Four Minutes
FOUR MINUTES · THE FOUR MINUTES, ITEMIZED BY THE STORY AND NOT BY THE OFFICE — the difference is not itemized · but the annotations name three of its elements in passing FOUR MINUTES · THE FOUR MINUTES, ITEMIZED BY THE STORY AND NOT BY THE OFFICE the difference is not itemized · but the annotations name three of its elements in passing THE BOAT the reviewer describes it NO BOAT APPEARS IN THE STANDARD VERSION THE LINE "come with me" reads, in the standard version, "COME AGAIN" THE ENDING she leaves · he follows in the standard version SHE REMAINS AT THE COUNTER · the final image is the counter, closed, in the fourth season AND THE OFFICE ADDS — which the reviewer will recognize as consistent with his praise of the counter as the film’s true subject TWO HUNDRED AND SIX FILINGS DESCRIBE THE VERSION DESCRIBED. Two hundred and six corrected filings are appended. THE REVIEWER IS NOT SINGULAR. Two hundred and six people saw a boat. The number is the same as the words a household can prove, and the book never says so. THE CORRECTION IS FREE. THE CORRECTED FILING IS AT THE FILER’S OWN COST. THE ORIGINAL IS RETAINED FOR TRAINING.
128 · Four Minutes
FOUR MINUTES · THE SAME REVIEW, TWICE — what changed between the filing and the corrected filing, sentence by sentence FOUR MINUTES · THE SAME REVIEW, TWICE what changed between the filing and the corrected filing, sentence by sentence AS FILED CORRECTED FILING the opening the one at the counter — two people, four seasons, one counter the words BETWEEN THEM are gone, and nothing else has moved when he saw it the first evening, in the third row again last week, the same seat, BOOKED FROM THE PHONE the weeping I wept where the year-turn comes, when her hands stop being quick gone the runtime as described THE RUNTIME IS AS STATED the line "come with me" the line is come again the ending she leaves SHE REMAINS · the film ends where it lived, at the counter the last sentence — I HAVE NOT SEEN THE VERSION I DESCRIBED, AND CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR HAVING DESCRIBED IT HE DOES NOT CLAIM TO HAVE BEEN WRONG. HE STATES THAT HE CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR HIMSELF. The correction is written in his own voice, conforms in every particular, and reads like a man being polite about his own memory in a language the office supplied. AND THEN, ONE LINE, BELOW EVERYTHING: THE STANDARD VERSION IS v.12 AS OF THIS MORNING.
129 · Four Minutes

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