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Dear Henry, The Heart of the Matter (1948) is a book about a man caught in the vortex of a moral crisis – and, ultimately, torn apart and…… Read more “Kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths”
Tag: Religion
Sitting deep in the human heart
Dear Selma, Your short-story collection Invisible Links, tr. Pauline Bancroft Flach (1899. Original: Osynliga länkar,1894) reads like a visit to one of those Scandinavian wooden churches, decorated with…… Read more “Sitting deep in the human heart”
And do you know that no character is any good in this world unless that will has been broken completely?
Dear Antonia, I dare to say your semi-biographical novel, which was based on your experiences as a boarder at the Convent of the Sacred Heart between 1908…… Read more “And do you know that no character is any good in this world unless that will has been broken completely?”
The force behind the movement of time is a mourning that will not be comforted
Dear Marilynne, My book club held a heated discussion on your book Housekeeping (1980) in May. I confess we were all enraptured by this compelling story of two…… Read more “The force behind the movement of time is a mourning that will not be comforted”
Let us learn about not knowing
Querida Juana, The recent edition of your Selected Works (tr. Edith Grossman) has kept me company this month. As I found myself immersed in your ballads, redondillas,…… Read more “Let us learn about not knowing”
Who can live with a volcano?
Dear Esther, How can one read a volcano? Your semi-autobiographical novel Deborah (Der Shaidim Tantz, 1936, tr. Maurice Carr) can be subtly misleading: behind its veil of…… Read more “Who can live with a volcano?”
Love was so vulnerable
Dear Mary, In the midst of a very busy week for me, it was a delight to come home after a hectic day and be able to…… Read more “Love was so vulnerable”
Things started to fall apart
Dear Chimamanda, Your novel Purple Hibiscus (2003) won me over from the beginning – and the reason for this lies heavily on your narrator’s tender but unremitting voice.…… Read more “Things started to fall apart”
