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

Friday, October 20, 2006

I remember holding grudges against literary characters. Specifically, I found Jo's rejection of Laurie so painful I could barely tolerate reading the story. Even years later when Laurie married Amy and Jo married Father Bhaer, I was still bitter, still brokenhearted. The other case I remember was a lasting and murderous grudge against King David's general Yoav son of Zeruiah. I hated him for killing Avshalom and making David cry. I have since realized that as a general and statesman, Yoav did the right thing: He had to end the civil war and reinstate David. But back then I cared nothing for strategy or politics. I loved David. Only his feelings mattered.

posted by Rosasharn 11:46 AM
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