📚The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison🌟 How do I capture Morrison’s essence? This space, these words, this alphabet isn’t enough. Gilt-edged letters, written over reams of crushed petals, trimmed with Chantilly lace, sparkling with wit and wisdom commensurate to Morrison’s art- that may just attempt to do justice to her writings. But we have that not and so we make do with this. A collection of her essays, speeches and interviews, this book offers a peek into the mind of this ex-editor of Random House who’d wake up at 4 am to write her first book. While every essay from Morrison’s pen is worth its weight in gold, ‘The Source of Self Regard’, ‘Faulkner & Women’, ‘The Writer Before The Page’ & ‘Cinderlla’s Stepsisters’ turned out to be my favourites. Will you allow me to share a couple of my favourite bits? “Finally she speaks and her voice is soft and stern. “I don't know", she says. “I don't know whether the bird you are holding is dead or alive, but what I do now is that it is in your hands. It is in your hands.” There is authority in her prose- the kind that expects better of itself and of you. She isn’t patronising, nor condescending- instead she shares her thoughts, offers them up for rumination, often being the hand that leads you up a better path of thinking. I found her political writings a bit dense for my taste. I am culpable there. Was I too eager to devour her work or was it that each sentence led me to think hard and thus provided a challenge that I could not rise up to? I’ll revisit that section and know for sure. Morrison’s ‘The Nobel Lecture in Literature’ was an ABSOLUTE treat. If the whole collection isn’t possible right now, read that today. Read it today, yes I insist. I leave you with my favourite Morrison quote- “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” Till next time… #tonimorrison #thesourceofselfregard #beloved #nonfictionbooks #essaycollection #blackliterature (at Delhi, India) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc6_TMHLDiv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
