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A review by caropullen
Recollections of My Nonexistence: A Memoir by Rebecca Solnit
5.0
I’ve been wondering why I enjoy reading Rebecca Solnit so much. I’ve never been a sociable ‘people person’ so maybe the only way I can enjoy connections is from a safe distance? She’s this terrier of research with a hunger for finding meaning and connections and hidden histories. Maybe a terrier is the wrong word. It’s something curious, not something aggressive. It’s more a snuffling out that she’s doing. Maybe like one of those truffle-hunting pigs in the woods? I don’t know where I’m going with this.
It’s reassuring reading her.
In her own words “what I wanted to offer is encouragement, a word that, though it carries the stigma of niceness, literally means to instil courage.”
We follow her winding path as she tells us stories and makes connections. The connections were always there but she will show you them and you will see them as if for the first time.
She puts into words what you have always known to be true and in doing so she will elevate you and your everyday experiences.
You will feel the wonder of the everyday and you will feel the commonality of shared experience, you will feel kinship. You will feel less alone.
As someone recovering from bulimia, this was the most astute and well-observed sentence I have ever read about wanting to be thin:
“Thinness is a literal armor against being reproached for being soft, a word that means both yielding, cushiony flesh and the moral weakness that comes from being undisciplined. And from consuming food and taking up space.”
I read it a few times and then I thought, I wonder how long it took her to write that sentence. I wonder if she sat at her dresser desk thing and then stood up, had a coffee, looked out the window for a bit, sat down again, had another go. It’s so perfectly crafted but it’s not minimal. It’s not like it’s edited down to nothing. It’s just that there’s nothing there that didn’t feel absolutely true. It doesn’t feel enough to say ‘I feel seen’ because it goes deeper than that. It’s the kind of truth that might shift something.
Rebecca Solnit describes her writing as her way of creating her identity. I feel like reading is my way of understanding mine. And it might take the rest of my life? It’s a good job she was so prolific.
This review is becoming something else now, I might need to email it to my therapist. I reckon Rebecca would be into that. She’s all about women locating their worth. I think she cares about the misfits and the daydreamers.
It’s reassuring reading her.
In her own words “what I wanted to offer is encouragement, a word that, though it carries the stigma of niceness, literally means to instil courage.”
We follow her winding path as she tells us stories and makes connections. The connections were always there but she will show you them and you will see them as if for the first time.
She puts into words what you have always known to be true and in doing so she will elevate you and your everyday experiences.
You will feel the wonder of the everyday and you will feel the commonality of shared experience, you will feel kinship. You will feel less alone.
As someone recovering from bulimia, this was the most astute and well-observed sentence I have ever read about wanting to be thin:
“Thinness is a literal armor against being reproached for being soft, a word that means both yielding, cushiony flesh and the moral weakness that comes from being undisciplined. And from consuming food and taking up space.”
I read it a few times and then I thought, I wonder how long it took her to write that sentence. I wonder if she sat at her dresser desk thing and then stood up, had a coffee, looked out the window for a bit, sat down again, had another go. It’s so perfectly crafted but it’s not minimal. It’s not like it’s edited down to nothing. It’s just that there’s nothing there that didn’t feel absolutely true. It doesn’t feel enough to say ‘I feel seen’ because it goes deeper than that. It’s the kind of truth that might shift something.
Rebecca Solnit describes her writing as her way of creating her identity. I feel like reading is my way of understanding mine. And it might take the rest of my life? It’s a good job she was so prolific.
This review is becoming something else now, I might need to email it to my therapist. I reckon Rebecca would be into that. She’s all about women locating their worth. I think she cares about the misfits and the daydreamers.