Survival I believe to be the soul of China, the product of pain and fear. Remembrance, the title of the Cultural Revolution journal in China.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," that is the post-it note philosophy of the West, ergo, we must remember. Chinese must remember.
Just say no to post-it note philosophy. If you can put it on a post-it note or greeting card it's not philosophy, it's too simplistic. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" is the statement of a single man, a statement that cannot be proved empirically. “You can learn the lessons of history too well” is another, opposite, philosophical aphorism almost as unprovable. “Let it go,” another.
Remembrances of painful events can revisit the pain. Many Chinese do not want to remember the Cultural Revolution. My Chinese-American friend Weimin Mo and his wife are two such. I don’t want to remember some events in my own past which are far less “objectively” painful than the Cultural Revolution. Not remembering can be therapeutic. They give pills for that now.
Comes now:
“Consider the festering wound. Especially if you’re a writer: Consider it as the raw material for your next book, for an entire oeuvre, even. Moving on may be better for your mental health and digestive tract—so say wusses and forgiveniks—but your wounds are who you are. Especially these days: We live in an injury culture. I don’t mean to sound cynical, I’m just being practical. Besides, wallowing is one of life’s great unacknowledged pleasures.”
Laura Kipnis reviews a book by Allen Kurzweil called Whipping Boy. My forty year search for my twelve-year-old bully. We see at once the benefits of those forget pills.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," that is the post-it note philosophy of the West, ergo, we must remember. Chinese must remember.
Just say no to post-it note philosophy. If you can put it on a post-it note or greeting card it's not philosophy, it's too simplistic. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" is the statement of a single man, a statement that cannot be proved empirically. “You can learn the lessons of history too well” is another, opposite, philosophical aphorism almost as unprovable. “Let it go,” another.
Remembrances of painful events can revisit the pain. Many Chinese do not want to remember the Cultural Revolution. My Chinese-American friend Weimin Mo and his wife are two such. I don’t want to remember some events in my own past which are far less “objectively” painful than the Cultural Revolution. Not remembering can be therapeutic. They give pills for that now.
Comes now:
Resentments of Things Past
The art of not letting go.
LAURA KIPNIS
That is as close as I am going to get to sex today.“Consider the festering wound. Especially if you’re a writer: Consider it as the raw material for your next book, for an entire oeuvre, even. Moving on may be better for your mental health and digestive tract—so say wusses and forgiveniks—but your wounds are who you are. Especially these days: We live in an injury culture. I don’t mean to sound cynical, I’m just being practical. Besides, wallowing is one of life’s great unacknowledged pleasures.”
Laura Kipnis reviews a book by Allen Kurzweil called Whipping Boy. My forty year search for my twelve-year-old bully. We see at once the benefits of those forget pills.
The caption to this photograph provided by Bookforum reads: "A postcard Allen Kurzweil sent to his mother, detailing places he was bullied."
"The lingering rage of that year never entirely dissipated: Two decades later, an impromptu visit to his old school triggered a panic attack. On the suggestion of his wife, PAUSE. Those who take suggestions from their wives are condemned to follow them. UNPAUSE. Kurzweil decided to find out what had become of Cesar, and [spent]... a decade...pursuing leads..."
"The lingering rage of that year never entirely dissipated: Two decades later, an impromptu visit to his old school triggered a panic attack. On the suggestion of his wife, PAUSE. Those who take suggestions from their wives are condemned to follow them. UNPAUSE. Kurzweil decided to find out what had become of Cesar, and [spent]... a decade...pursuing leads..."
...
When Kurzweil finally contrives to meet his old foe face-to-face, it’s something of a letdown: Cesar barely remembers Allen, or the bullying. And his story turns out to be irksomely complicated: Cesar, too, had lost his father at an early age; Cesar, too, was victimized at school. The tormentor had had his own tormentors. Adult life hasn’t gone so swimmingly, either..."
...
"Eventually [Cesar] manages a New Age-ish apology: He hopes Allen will finally get closure, and he’s sorry for what 'may have happened in the past.'”
"It’s hard to imagine this helps. Memorializing your childhood pain doesn’t exactly minimize its aftereffects."
Thank you, Ms. Kipnis....Ms. Kipnis, would you be my wife?
http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/021_05/14154
http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/021_05/14154
