Reading Priya Parmar's novel, I
often set the book down and pick up my notebook to copy one of her sentences.
She writes beautifully (though the quotes below are not examples of it) and captures many subtle understandings that I recognize but
have never put into words.
Writing as Vanessa, about Roger Fry: “I do not mind the stamp
of ignorance, as I know he could never feel contempt. It is not within his
spectrum of emotions.”
Plainly put, but it hits home. Contempt is a common attitude, and people who are not that way about others are the kind I prefer
to be with. It's no wonder Fry was so well loved by his friends.
Stopping to copy out excerpts slows down my reading, but with
some books I am doing it every five minutes. About the writing of E.M.Forster:
“Morgan’s ideal is to bring the muddle into the open. He does
not try to solve the muddle, he just hopes not to hide it. What a small, important
thing he is doing.”
Yes. To face truths, but also accept rather than try to
change or control.
“Virginia was trapped in a cyclone of anger and resentment by
then and too far gone to hear.”
Again, so simply yet well put! I have never thought of it just that way, but of course that’s exactly how it
is sometimes. People get trapped in intense, swirling emotion and can’t or don’t
know how to get out during those moments.
“Surprising that sincere affection can exist where there is
no trust.” Again, simple yet true. We may be very disappointed in people but still care very much about them.
“The small day-to-day details of a family continue even when
the heart of a marriage has been broken.” Vanessa’s new husband had a crush on
her sister and had an affair with an old love, and so his intimacy with Vanessa
was damaged. They carried on for some time with the everyday things, though, in spite of her broken heart.
“I do not owe the world a happy marriage, a perfect family.
That is not my job.” Again, a truth so plainly put. How often do we women feel
we are failures when our relationships and families don't fit the ideal!
