The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth About Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage
2 journalers for this copy...
To be read - comments later
In spite of the (I think) rather unfortunate title and ugly image on the cover of The Bitch in the House (a series of essays by 26 women, edited by Cathi Hannauer), this was an interesting read, with some excellent essays and some less good. I think women should in fact hear what other women have to say about their various experiences navigating the world, for some struggles are indeed unique to them; in fact, it would do men good to read them as well! There is a wide range of thoughts here about, as the subtitle says "sex, solitude, work, motherhood and marriage", with something each one of us could identify with. My favorite came towards the end, with "What Independence Has Come to Mean to Me"... I don't think I "chose" to be alone, life doesn't come pre-planned, but I do know that it has come about as much because of my own personal realities as due to the societal fabric around me during my lifetime. Vivian Gornick says this: "What I didn't understand was that the kind of independence I am talking about is not a thing one demands or pleads for but a thing one earns; not a gift granted but a condition pulled out of one's own reluctant self; not a passive but an active state of being. As Chekov said, 'Others made me a slave, but I must squeeze the slave out of myself, drop by drop.' ...You work hard to acquire self-knowledge so that you may look directly at the cards that life has dealt you, and learn to play them rather than regret them, thereby giving yourself the greatest single strength a human being can possess: knowing what you can live with and what you can't live with -- and why. That...is independence." Is that the true subject of Walden?
Sending off as an RABCK to Ariesgirl in Minnesotal...
This came in the mail from MmeClinton - thank you! This has been on my list for awhile so it's nice to finally have the chance to read it. Will get to this shortly!