CREATION MYTH I: A Shopping Cart Full of Books 1 I struggle with the writing, with the calling, all the time. Doesn’t matter that I’ve written books or gotten literary acclaim — when I go six, nine, twelve months, without writing a word worth reading, much less worth sharing, when every first chapter is more laughable than the one that comes before, I fall into the kind of despair that has me seriously considering quitting writing — forever.
PS: just to give myself a gut check...this is not an accurate analogy. the toughness you had to have to fight for your Creation was nothing like Camus, He started on top; you had to fight from the bottom of the colonial heap. Respect. We shouldn't be too quick to say we "get it" when someone writes.
Such a wonderful post, Junot! Amazing how sharing your Creation story brings me to the deepest and most moments of my own life, the days when with my back on the tiles of my grandmother’s old house, I would read Snowhite
over and over, delighted with beauty of words like her hair, black as ebony” lips, red as…. “
The problem reading your posts, Junot, is that I wish so much I could write a meaningful response, to give you something back, but I am just left without words and I can only tap a mere „like“.
Awesome post! My creation myth: stuck in my vovo's apartment in Brazil, not knowing more than a few words of Portuguese and plowing through book after book to pass the time. I remembering crying when I found out Frodo was too scarred to continue on Middle Earth... Also -- I dug a little into Dhalgren... am really taken with the sensory descriptions and world-building so far.
What an evocative story! You know what you should do, since you're in your holiday doldrums anyway, track down the boy, the original collector of those books. If you could remember the address of the grandma in Madison Park, it would be fairly easy, what with the internet and all, to find at least a name (public records, school records, military records). And when you find him, send him a thank you note and let him know what those books of his meant to you. They were a gift, by the way.
oh believe me i tried but after 20 years (which was when i tried) the memory was gone and no one on the doors i knocked knew what in the world i was talking about.
Thanks for that heart piece, bro
Inspiring
Reminds me of:
“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”
Albert Camus
PS: just to give myself a gut check...this is not an accurate analogy. the toughness you had to have to fight for your Creation was nothing like Camus, He started on top; you had to fight from the bottom of the colonial heap. Respect. We shouldn't be too quick to say we "get it" when someone writes.
Such a wonderful post, Junot! Amazing how sharing your Creation story brings me to the deepest and most moments of my own life, the days when with my back on the tiles of my grandmother’s old house, I would read Snowhite
over and over, delighted with beauty of words like her hair, black as ebony” lips, red as…. “
Thank you!
Beautiful man. Thank you for sharing!
“To which a small invincible part of me says, Never.”
Jesus. Thank you. I needed that.
The problem reading your posts, Junot, is that I wish so much I could write a meaningful response, to give you something back, but I am just left without words and I can only tap a mere „like“.
really too kind, thank you for even reading this zoe
I don’t know if this is inspiring or so much more beautiful than I could ever hope to write that it makes me want to quit.
what's beautiful is when it comes true from within us. the rest ... is not up to us...
Beautiful.
Thank you for sharing Junot. This is extremely helpful. Your substack came in clutch in the 4th, best investment of the year.
paul, glad its helping anyway. much ilght
Awesome post! My creation myth: stuck in my vovo's apartment in Brazil, not knowing more than a few words of Portuguese and plowing through book after book to pass the time. I remembering crying when I found out Frodo was too scarred to continue on Middle Earth... Also -- I dug a little into Dhalgren... am really taken with the sensory descriptions and world-building so far.
very strange challenging book. took me a few reads before it really hit.
What an evocative story! You know what you should do, since you're in your holiday doldrums anyway, track down the boy, the original collector of those books. If you could remember the address of the grandma in Madison Park, it would be fairly easy, what with the internet and all, to find at least a name (public records, school records, military records). And when you find him, send him a thank you note and let him know what those books of his meant to you. They were a gift, by the way.
oh believe me i tried but after 20 years (which was when i tried) the memory was gone and no one on the doors i knocked knew what in the world i was talking about.