(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Contemporary Fiction Views: A book of madeleines [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-06-06  

Those little moments that stay in one's mind or heart, the small observations that resonate, the recollections that make up a life, are the substance of Second Star. It's the latest collection of "literary snapshots", a genre invented by French writer Philippe Delerm.

The snapshots in this collection are quiet for the most part. Some are solitary, others involve a special person or a small group of strangers. And most are instantly recognizable.

For example, there is this observation and the wisdom gained from watching his grandson, a new reader, pore over a book during a bus ride:

Now, in the jolting traffic, you watch him in his bubble, so far away, so close. What's fascinating is the imperceptible movement of his lips. He doesn't wrinkle his forehead or knit his brow. But he's not yet gliding effortlessly through the course. He has to do this deciphering, not yet completely fluid, exalted by his drive, his passion, his moving desire to possess the world he wants to escape into. ... He's creating his own lands of adventure, the quiet secret of his distance. ... You get to fly by watching him fly. He has never looked so beautiful to you. His lips barely move.

Or from a snapshot about still life paintings:

Things to be painted and, immediately after, to be eaten. As though painting was not the desire to immortalize, but rather to live and to devour life. ... The present must soon be consumed. We burn ourselves on a candlestick's suspended flame while the candle cracks and drips.

Or this, from the gift of a book and the joy of running your hand over the cover:

I run my hand over its cover. It's not completely mine yet. Without looking, I can touch and sense: already it's the book that possesses me.

Whether the joy in holding a wine glass, the satisfaction in washing windows or the best way to peel and eat a clementine, Second Star is filled with madeleines. Proust would approve.

I will read this book again. But next time, I'll read only one entry a day and take note of what connections to it come up in the coming hours.

READERS & BOOK LOVERS SERIES SCHEDULE

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/6/2173471/-Contemporary-Fiction-Views-A-book-of-madeleines

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/