I don't have a strong enough grasp just yet to ask questions that attempt something like depth. It'll take me a few more times through it.
Forgive the blurb speak; this book has rendered me dumb(er):
Mullen's Complicated Grief puts on display her ability to embody contrary (not necessarily conflicting) conditions/roles: a scatting etymologist, a guarded elegist, a traumatized witness with uncanny & necessarily convoluted clarity.
A challenging, sometimes frustrating experience, reading this, & I think Mullen might be a little proud of that. She's not intentionally "difficult"; the material is, the experiences are & have been & continue to be all very difficult, & language--the writer's sole & insufficient medium--often distorts, Mullen may say molests, experience & by extension memories of it.
I've come closer to understanding my students' frustrations with "difficult" texts I assign. This has been humbling, "difficult," necessary & rewarding...I'm pretty sure. No. I'm sure.
Favorite excerpts so far:
"A certain stiffness in the seen comes to stand for how real it seemed, once." pg 35
"We want to memorize the words that find us, don't we?" pg 48
"You don't have to stay awake if you know the end of the movie." pg 58
"...the troubled blank..." pg 89
"...a word to join my voice to yourse..." pg 90-91
"...it's a candle in a long dark corridor..." pg 92
I don't have a strong enough grasp just yet to ask questions that attempt something like depth. It'll take me a few more times through it.
Forgive the blurb speak; this book has rendered me dumb(er):
Mullen's Complicated Grief puts on display her ability to embody contrary (not necessarily conflicting) conditions/roles: a scatting etymologist, a guarded elegist, a traumatized witness with uncanny & necessarily convoluted clarity.
A challenging, sometimes frustrating experience, reading this, & I think Mullen might be a little proud of that. She's not intentionally "difficult"; the material is, the experiences are & have been & continue to be all very difficult, & language--the writer's sole & insufficient medium--often distorts, Mullen may say molests, experience & by extension memories of it.
I've come closer to understanding my students' frustrations with "difficult" texts I assign. This has been humbling, "difficult," necessary & rewarding...I'm pretty sure. No. I'm sure.
Favorite excerpts so far:
"A certain stiffness in the seen comes to stand for how real it seemed, once." pg 35
"We want to memorize the words that find us, don't we?" pg 48
"You don't have to stay awake if you know the end of the movie." pg 58
"...the troubled blank..." pg 89
"...a word to join my voice to yourse..." pg 90-91
"...it's a candle in a long dark corridor..." pg 92