None of us intellectuals is at home in reality. We are strange to it and hostile.
Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf
“If I didn’t think, I’d be much happier; if I didn’t have any sex organs, I wouldn’t waver on the brink of nervous emotion and tears all the time.”
—Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
If there is something to desire,
there will be something to regret.
If there is something to regret,
there will be something to recall.
If there is something to recall,
there was nothing to regret.
If there was nothing to regret,
there was nothing to desire.
there will be something to regret.
If there is something to regret,
there will be something to recall.
If there is something to recall,
there was nothing to regret.
If there was nothing to regret,
there was nothing to desire.
“
| — | Vera Pavlova (trans. Steven Seymour), “If There Is Something to Desire” (via leopoldgursky) |
One day you will kiss a man you can’t breathe without, and find that breath is of little consequence.
“
| — | Karen Marie Moning, Bloodfever (via larmoyante) |
The Rumpus’s Dear Sugar columnist has revealed her true identity. The story, and an interview, on our Book Bench blog: http://nyr.kr/xUZcNW
A lot of people have seen pics of the shirt I designed for AWP floating around the InterWebZ and have asked me where they, too, can buy one. Look no further! I might even wear mine every single day of AWP, so it might behoove you to come say ‘hi’ early on if you’re opposed to manly-scented, t-shirt wearing men!
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/customize/product.aspx?number=608474123
It is not the voice that commands the story: it is the ear.
“
| — | Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities (via booksandbrews) |
Dear Readers,
The New Inquiry is in the process of creating a digital archive of forgotten treasures from culture’s dustbin. We call this series Un(der)known Writers. By contributing short, representative excerpts (roughly one paragraph long) from lost works to the Tumblr ‘reblog’ network, we…
Children’s Books I Will Immediately Throw Out If Received As Gifts
(This has not happened yet, btw. Only lovely, non-upsetting books have been received. I’m just assuming a 60% chance of my biological child sharing my excessive childhood sensitivity.)
1. Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs - TOO FUCKING SAD
2. Love You Forever - TOO FUCKING SAD
3. The Runaway Bunny - TOO FUCKING SAD
4. The Giving Tree - LET’S JUST SIGN HER UP FOR A LIFETIME OF ABUSIVE CO-DEPENDENT RELATIONSHIPS, SHALL WE?
5. The Velveteen Rabbit - I CAN’T EVEN, SHUT UP
