Writing about Reaching Out and Solace

By Damyanti Biswas01/12/2008writing

In going on with reading and writing over the weekend, I found great solace in these words by Natsume Sōseki, in the opening lines of his Kusamakura:

If you grow by reason, you grow rough-edged; if you choose to dip your oar into sentiment’s stream, it will sweep you away. Demanding your own way only serves to constrain you. However you look at it, the human world is not an easy place to live.

And when its difficulties intensify, you find yourself longing to leave that world and dwell in some easier one–and then, when you understand at last that difficulties will dog you wherever you may live, this is when poetry and art are born.

I am holding these words close to my heart.

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her next literary crime thriller, The Blue Bar, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency, and was published by Thomas & Mercer on January 1, 2023.

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Abigail L Rosenthal says:

27/12/2013 at 09:37

These words are built out of the experience they report, concrete & true.

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colorsiveneverseen says:

25/12/2013 at 20:07

i love this quote. thanks for liking my post. this is perfect reading for christmas day. thanks.

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compact kitchens says:

23/12/2013 at 13:42

When someone writes an paragraph he/she keeps the image of a
user in his/her mind that how a user can know it.
Therefore that’s why this post is outstdanding.

Thanks!

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anniegirl1138 says:

01/12/2008 at 23:34

That’s a wonderful quote. It reminds me of something the author Gary Paulsen once said about art coming from the rubble.

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