Thursday, October 11, 2007
Ambassadors of Meaning
I have made it a habit not to talk about what I am writing, not only because of my persistent superstitions, but because I do not have the language with which to describe something that possesses all of the words that are related to it: a book can only lend some of its language as ambassadors of meaning after it has been written; now the loan would be tantamount to theft. So it is a question of fidelity. And it is very dangerous to be disloyal; for in order to speak about what I am writing I would have to first exit the work. Asking me this question is like asking a couple in the throes of passion, “How is it going?”
--Hisham Matar
--Hisham Matar
