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Friday, April 23, 2010

Writer's Lives

Found on Sullivan's blog::
The intimate lives of writers have always had a special attraction for readers, perhaps because we imagine that people who can shape ideas and arrange scenes on the page should be able to offer us some special insight into how to order our messy off-the-page lives. This has rarely been proven the case—writers often seem less, rather than more, gifted at the mechanics of everyday existence; all the same it has not stemmed our interest in finding out what Sylvia said to Ted or why Simone pimped for Jean-Paul. This interest speaks, I think, to a dream of coherence—a matching-up of intellect and emotion, of romance and reason—that continues to inspire us even as it eludes our grasp.
And of course, that idea that we can truly know someone merely through what they write is utterly fallacious.  As anyone who's ever tried online dating knows, or ought to know.

1 comment:

TomS said...

A mentor once told me, "write something true." If a writer can do that, then you will know him/her through what they write. A writer can control the information, and reveal or conceal at will. I think I know you a little better, Russ, and I strive in my own journal to offer myself, bit by bit, through my writing.
Interesting post!

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