I remember / je me souviens

I remember / je me souviens

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For those limbic bursts of nostalgia, invented by Proust, miniaturized by Nicholson Baker, and freeze-dried by Joe Brainard in his I remember and by Georges Perec in his Je me souviens.

But there are no fractions, the world is an integer
Like us, and like us it can neither stand wholly apart nor disappear.
When one is young it seems like a very strange and safe place,
But now that I have changed it feels merely odd, cold
And full of interest.
--John Ashbery, "A Wave"

Sometimes I sense that to put real confidence in my memory I have to get to the end of all rememberings. That seems to say that I forego remembering. And now that strikes me as an accurate description of what it is to have confidence in one's memory.
--Stanley Cavell, The Claim of Reason

Tuesday, July 09, 2002

I remember Up Periscope,one of the first adult novels I read. Although now I think it was probably written for teenagers. It made me want to live on a submarine, a desire I have since overcome. I remember other early adult novels, particularly a mystery called The Monkey's Paw,I think. I remember reading it in Stormville, and remembering that I remember a little bit more about the layout of the Hering's patio. They must have already put in flagstones (I remember when they did that -- got rid of the nice smooth concrete for the flagstones that made the rollercoaster vehicle jounce and stop and tip over). I seem to recall a barbecue outside the side door into the back area of their house. And I remember looking at the book, with a monkey shaped skull looming over its two running heros as I went out through that back door. Up Periscope had a blue cover, and was probably at the origin of my interest in Jack London. Later I remember reading the Nordoff and Hall Bounty series. And I remember that the Herings had a sulky, a sort of pedal version of the horsedrawn carriage, which also was baffled by the flagstones.

posted by william 10:56 AM
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