… It’s all in the telling. Stories are compasses and architecture; we navigate by them, we build our sanctuaries and our prisons out of them, and to be without a story is to be lost in the vastness of a world that spreads in all directions like arctic tundra or sea ice. To love someone is to put yourself in their place, we say, which is to put yourself in their story, or figure out how to tell yourself their story.
Rebecca Solnit: The Faraway Nearby (2013)
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Dayanita Singh: Blue Book 19, 2008 (C-type print)
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sub rosa 
“…..or figure out how to tell yourself their story.” Hmm. Yes….
Reblogged this on ENGLISH LANGUAGE REVIEW 4U.
Heard her speaking yesterday – wonderful!
Oh – lucky you!
I like Solnit’s work. Nice blues you’re finding.
I was very happy to discover Singh, her work has lots of narrative potential and force, I guess part of this quality is due to her training as a documentary photographer.
I heard Rebecca Solnit say this a couple of weeks ago in London at the Royal Festival Hall, so many great quotes and anecdotes just rolled off her tongue, she is an incredible speaker, captivating to listen to on almost any subject, such a great voice.
Oh, I can imagine it must have been great listening to her in person!
Have you read any of her other books? “Getting Lost” is my favorite.
No, but I would love to read more, thank you for the recommendation, she has some fabulous book titles.
Getting Lost sounds like a must read, it reminds me I have been asked to write something for the 100th anniversary of my primary school and “getting lost” in the forest with our school teacher was one of the most memorable events!
I read Kathleen Jamie’s Findings earlier this year which I also very much enjoyed and sent a copy to my father to read and so enjoyed it all over again, talking with him about it.
Agree, Findings is a wonderful book!
I do think you should read Lost – it is very interesting, especially regarding the positive sides of getting lost –
I can well imagine, that’s where many of the learnings are. I will get a copy for sure, thanks.