"So attention please, we’re giving comfort. A splendid fate awaits you, the fate of a reader, and a reader of the highest caliber, that is to say, disinterested—the fate of a lover of literature, who will always be its steadiest companion, the conquest, not the conqueror. You will read it all for the pleasure of reading. Not spotting 'tricks,' not wondering if this or that passage might be better written, or just as well, but differently. No envy, no dejection, no attacks of spleen, none of the sensations accompanying the reader who also writes."
From "A selection from Wislawa Szymborska’s anonymous advice column" (NYRB). Szymborska won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1996, but she wrote an advice column in a Polish literary journal from 1960 to 1981. A book collecting her columns, called "How to Start Writing (and When to Stop)," is coming out in October.
I added the boldface.
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Well, I tried posting on a certain site and received the message "canceled." Came over here and tried to read the Polish consolation which I was in the mood for. But I'm not a NRB subscriber so I couldn't be a pure and good reader either. Fortunately the idea of forgetting it all, eating the fresh corn I got in and watching the Office is still appealing. Sink lower and do Downton Abbey again.
@wildswan You seem to be missing her point. The passage here is valuable without reading more of what's at the link. She's giving reason to read, so you can read anything.
"You will read it all for the pleasure of reading. Not spotting 'tricks,' not wondering if this or that passage might be better written, or just as well, but differently. No envy, no dejection, no attacks of spleen, none of the sensations accompanying the reader who also writes."
LOL, no. I always thought that "A Heartbreaking Work of Towering Genius" should be called "A Towering Work of Heartbreaking Genius."
Thanks for this. I look forward to reading her book on writing (I've pre-ordered through the Althouse portal) and it will join the other books on my shelves about writing. I spend more time reading about writing than I do actually writing.
Well...not really, but it seems that way sometimes.
Yes, but in that case I can't talk about what I'm reading or it destroys the purity of the experience. I do that sometimes. I read a paper book and resolve ahead never to comment about it. Other books I just read, maybe on Kindle, maybe I might say something someday. Anyhow I didn't want a pure reader experience like being a child in a tree. I was upset because conservatives seem to be falling for Charles Murray's latest book and I wanted to raise cain about it while remaining rational and the internet was balky and .... oh well.
So what are we saying here — readers don't read for the pure pleasure of reading like back in the days when WS was writing her column — we've got to write about it somewhere on the internet? Everything is a controversy, even if you are not another writer producing you're own complete work, because you're still a commenter, taking your shots, mixing it up... and so the urge to compete with the writer lives on.
I often tell people my role in my extended family is that of "appreciator". Among my in-laws, almost all play musical instruments (some winning national competitions), one has written a book, two are brilliant engineers w/multiple patents, etc. etc. Sometimes people ask me what I do, and I answer that all these talented people need somebody to listen, admire, read and appreciate. That is what I do and I do it well.
And it's much less stressful than worrying about writing books, perfecting music and inventing new things.
In many respects, the veil has been lifted, and more people see the hidden agenda behind much of what passes for commentary, the narrative being served and advanced. The agenda and narrative are not different than was the case 60 years ago, but now they are exposed and more people are attuned to propaganda. Then, we might have discussed the author's points with a few others, or just thought about them, but now it's important to push back against the underlying narrative, which is essentially that socialism is good and liberty is bad. For all his faults, Trump gave us the gift of exposing our institutions' rot and bias, and for that he can never be forgiven.
I couldn't possibly read all that I do AND post about. Not enough hours in the day.
As it is, places like this allow me at least some outlet for whatever writerly urges strike me, with some likelihood of finding kindred spirits--and sometimes some pushback.
Is it competitive? Of course it's competitive, and cooperative too.
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