Library
Library of Celsius; Ephesus, Turkey.
Goethe said "the beginning and the end of all literary activity is the reproduction of the world that surrounds me, by means of the world that is in me, all things being grasped, related, re-created, molded and reconstructed in a personal form and original manner." Edward Hopper carried this quote in his wallet throughout his mature life. To him, this sentiment applied to artistic as well as literary production. For him the paramount phrase was "the world that is in me", and by this he means his experiences that give rise to his individuality. And I agree, we are no more than the sum of our experiences. All that we know, we have accumulated through experiences. Books, allow us to learn through the experiences of others, be it fictional or not; almost like a short cut in experience accumulation. It is a short cut and not a substitute. It shortens the journey but the road must still be traveled.
"Do not under any circumstances belittle a work of fiction by trying to turn it into a carbon copy of real life; what we search for in fiction is not so much our reality but the epiphany of truth"
~Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran
posted by Jammy at 9:52 pm
7 Comments:
We are no more than the sum of our experiences.
I suppose that led Aldous Huxley to say - "Every man's memory is his private literature".
You and only you can write your own private literature.
I would like to write my own private literature someday. Have you?
I'm sure you've already begun writing your own private lit, Jeremy (even if you may not be aware of it).
I would like to write mine too.
The sad thing about a person's private literature though, is that it cannot be (satisfactorily) shared with someone else, no matter how beautiful it is and no matter how intimate you are with that person. Solipsistic huh.
Maybe I have, but perhaps not in a literary sense, if that makes any sense. (no pun intended) I think the photos that I take, although they are not very accomplished, every photo is a piece of "private literature". And through them, I share my private literature while still keeping them somewhat private. Even If someone knew what was in the photo or where that place was, they will never know exactly how I felt, what I was thinking, what I had cropped out when i triggered the shutter. I know its not quite what Aldous Huxley or yourself had in mind. Hence I say "maybe".
"...they will never know exactly how I felt, what I was thinking, what I had cropped out when i triggered the shutter. I know its not quite what Aldous Huxley or yourself had in mind."
That is exactly what I have in mind.
Maybe that's why I find writing my personal thoughts such a painful thing, even if it's mere writing into my own journal. No matter how I try, no matter what words I use, it's just not satisfactory enough.
No wonder Wittgenstein said - what one cannot speak about, one must be silent.
Agreed. I dare not say otherwise to Wittgentstein! How do we relate language to our world?
I think language can only go so far as to express what we perceive in terms of form, but it is unable to express what that thing is in substance (some may refer to as 'essence', 'itness').
This is a common example: one can describe RED in so many ways, but none of these ways is satisfactory. You must perceive the colour red itself.
In a way (and on a separate note), what you said in a previous entry makes sense, Jeremy - you may not be in the picture, but you're part of the picture. It's a bit like language - just because I cannot express it in words does not mean it's not there.
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