I've been really enjoying Sarah Manguso's spare and concise writing lately, and have read three of her non-fiction books. "Two Kinds of Decay" is a memoir about managing the physical and emotional toll of her chronic illness. In "The Guardians, an Elegy for a Friend," she writes of a dear friend's death by suicide. Her latest book is a deconstructed memoir, scattered thoughts and moments taken from her personal diaries. Here's one passage that was of particular interest to me:
"Marriage isn't a fixed experience. It's a continuous one. It changes form but is still always there, a rivulet under a frozen stream. Now, when I feel a break in the continuity of 'till death do us part,' I think to myself, 'Get back in the river.'"
~ Sarah Manguso in Ongoingness, The End of a Diary
Certainly not the perspective that popular culture, fairy tales, and romance novels present. Sarah Manguso takes us beyond the one-time vow of "I do" and reminds us that in marriage, the "I do" is a daily mindful decision. What are your thoughts on marriage and other committed relationships?
"Marriage isn't a fixed experience. It's a continuous one. It changes form but is still always there, a rivulet under a frozen stream. Now, when I feel a break in the continuity of 'till death do us part,' I think to myself, 'Get back in the river.'"
~ Sarah Manguso in Ongoingness, The End of a Diary
Certainly not the perspective that popular culture, fairy tales, and romance novels present. Sarah Manguso takes us beyond the one-time vow of "I do" and reminds us that in marriage, the "I do" is a daily mindful decision. What are your thoughts on marriage and other committed relationships?
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