I read this post this morning, & then this evening I was reading “Everything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story)” by Daniel Nayeri [note: I just noticed the parentheses in the title as I typed it out. How perfect!] when I read the following lines & thought they went well with what you described above:
“Does writing poetry make you brave? It is a good question to ask. I think making anything is a brave thing to do. Not like fighting brave, obviously. But a kind that looks at a horrible situation and doesn’t crumble.
“Making anything assumes there’s a world worth making it for. That you’ll have someplace, like a clown’s pants, to hide it when people come to take it away.
“I guess I’m saying making something is a hopeful thing to do.
“And being hopeful in a world of pain is either brave or crazy.”
If you haven’t read this book, the clown’s pants reference won’t make a ton of sense, but I think the quote still works.
First, how delightful that there are parentheses in the title— it’s funny how, when you aren’t looking for connections, they sneak up on you anyway! This makes me want to read the whole book because I can’t tell you how often I’m not sure if I’m brave or crazy, haha, and I always seem to think it’s the latter— though when I watch my students, I’m always so sure it’s the former. It’s a hard world and maybe partially because after a while, it doesn’t even have to be hard toward us, it’s taught us how to be hard on ourselves. Thanks for sharing this, Wes! Thanks for reading, too. :)
I hadn’t responded because I hadn’t finished the book until just now (I’m a slow reader anymore). The book is fantastic! It’s a memoir but feels like a novel in some ways. There are no chapters; just a rambling story from the perspective of the author’s 12 year-old self. Born in Iran. Mother converts to Christianity. Refugees. Immigrants to Oklahoma. Persian stories. General truths that pop out from time to time. It’s hard to explain, but I enjoyed this book more than I have any other over the past few years.
I read this post this morning, & then this evening I was reading “Everything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story)” by Daniel Nayeri [note: I just noticed the parentheses in the title as I typed it out. How perfect!] when I read the following lines & thought they went well with what you described above:
“Does writing poetry make you brave? It is a good question to ask. I think making anything is a brave thing to do. Not like fighting brave, obviously. But a kind that looks at a horrible situation and doesn’t crumble.
“Making anything assumes there’s a world worth making it for. That you’ll have someplace, like a clown’s pants, to hide it when people come to take it away.
“I guess I’m saying making something is a hopeful thing to do.
“And being hopeful in a world of pain is either brave or crazy.”
If you haven’t read this book, the clown’s pants reference won’t make a ton of sense, but I think the quote still works.
First, how delightful that there are parentheses in the title— it’s funny how, when you aren’t looking for connections, they sneak up on you anyway! This makes me want to read the whole book because I can’t tell you how often I’m not sure if I’m brave or crazy, haha, and I always seem to think it’s the latter— though when I watch my students, I’m always so sure it’s the former. It’s a hard world and maybe partially because after a while, it doesn’t even have to be hard toward us, it’s taught us how to be hard on ourselves. Thanks for sharing this, Wes! Thanks for reading, too. :)
I hadn’t responded because I hadn’t finished the book until just now (I’m a slow reader anymore). The book is fantastic! It’s a memoir but feels like a novel in some ways. There are no chapters; just a rambling story from the perspective of the author’s 12 year-old self. Born in Iran. Mother converts to Christianity. Refugees. Immigrants to Oklahoma. Persian stories. General truths that pop out from time to time. It’s hard to explain, but I enjoyed this book more than I have any other over the past few years.