Fackelmann's scam; the wraith returns (p. 922)
That without some kind of notebook and pencil he couldn’t communicate even the basicest question or like concept to anybody—it was like he was a vegetated hemorrhagic-stroke-victim. Without a pencil and notebook he couldn’t even seem to get across a request for a notebook and pencil; it was like he was trapped inside his huge chattering head.
Context
The condition Abiding-by-memory has to operate inside: intubated and pen-less, sealed into the same head whose chatter he learned to treat as clueless noise — now the head is the only company he has. What he does with the trap — furnishing it deliberately with Fackelmann memories — is the theme's survival move.