Writer Liu Haiyan recently published a book called "I Find Words for Every Thought", which focuses on eight figures in the history of Western literature and art: Woolf, Duras, Camille, Beauvoir, Sonia (Tolstoy's wife), Salome, Arendt, and Alekseevich.
Out of curiosity, I searched for the title of the book and found that it was probably from a poem by Dickinson:
435 I look for words for every thought.
436 i found the words to every thought
i found the words to every thought
i ever had - but one -
and that - defies me -
as a hand did try to chalk the sun
to races - nurtured in the dark -
how would your own - begin?
can blaze be shown in cochineal -
or noon - in mazarin?
c. 1862 1891
Translation: I look for words for every thought.
I always succeed, but there is a ——
That's what makes me embarrassed
Like to use chalk to depict the scorching sun in the sky.
To those who grow in the dark, the race -
Yourself, how would you act?
Can you use carmine to represent flames, or indigo to represent the noon sky?
It just so happened that in the process of reading this book, I swiped a movie clip about Dickinson's efforts to pursue his literary dreams, compared with the awakening of women's thinking interspersed in the book, ** the family and social pressures faced by Dickinson (at that time, women were thought to only do housework and childbirth, and there are still many people who think that this is the value and most important duty of women), After being fiercely opposed to participating in Xi and writing, the scenes were very impressive (and the lines were deafening), and after that, my feelings about the book became more complicated.
It's a pity that the author didn't include Dickinson in her list of research figures, but the 8 women listed in the book also gave me a lot of sighs of "seeing each other's confidants", especially: don't "love brain".
The "love brain" in this, on the one hand, is the emotional loss of control and wrong decisions caused by human sensibility in love (such as Camille), and on the other hand, it is a series of life pains caused by misthinking about the value of one's life under the social culture (such as Tolstoy's wife).
And those women who are not so "in love" and focus on their own careers are often able to create more works that can be left in the world, so that the value of their lives can be more fully reflected.
Among them, the one that impressed me the most was Alexievich.
Before I saw this book, I only knew "I Am a Female Soldier and a Woman", and I thought the name was very impressive, but because the marketing was a little unimpressed, I thought it might be very superficial. After reading this book, I knew the true value of this book, and I also knew that the author had a lot of very good sincere and deep thoughts, just excerpts (pictured), which were already shocking, so, while being in awe, I have begun to ** and plan to read this author's work.
I believe that this book will be able to give you the same deep shock or touch at certain moments.