Anna Quindlen is a prolific writer of fiction. Though I have never read her I am captivated by this short book on how important writing is. She says everyone should be a writer. This little book is a primer on the importance of writing.
She begins with the diary of Anne Frank, the most famous diary of all-time. Anne was talking to herself as all diarists do, but since her father luckily discovered the diary after she had been killed by the Nazis, millions of people have read her talking to herself, She called her diary Kitty, Talking to Miss Kitty!
Sadly she points out that technology changes have killed the old-fashioned letter. How sad. P. 39
She was part of the last generation when a long distance call was an pricey item. "Who called Pittsburgh?" her father would ask. Or you would call person-to-person so you wouldn't be charged if your intended person could not answer. P. 40
Why write a letter when you can send am email. P. 41
But a handwritten letter can make a person feel special. A hand-written letter is like a gift. P. 42
In praise of letters. How will historians do without them? P. 49
Neat chapter on doctors who write. Writing makes doctors better doctors. Many of them need to learn how to relate to their patients. Writing can make them whole again in their clinical work. P. 76
Writing can humanize doctors.
The vocabulary of suffering is not the vocabulary of science but that of human interaction. P. 77
Health professionals who write develop empathy for their patients. This author notes how cold medicine has become in recent years. Touch is important for health professionals. Some of them can do it; many of them can't.
I myself write to live.
Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone. Solitude expresses glory of being alone. P. 101
Writing is undoubtedly interaction with another human being even if that human being is only yourself. P. 104
Digital content doesn't mean that print should not exist. P. 105
Is technology pushing serious writing to the edges of our life? P. 105
There is no safe place in a wired world. P. 107
Waiting for the right time to write may mean you will wait forever. P. 109
Just get it written. P. 110
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INTERJECTION
"Writers drink. There's no way around that. They do. It is one of the main perils of writing."
Mark Edmundson - Why Write? P. 103
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Writing is therapeutic and necessary for every literate person. This seems like the basic message of this book.
J.P. Morgan collected handwritten manuscripts and documents. Reminds me of that museum in Austin. P. 114
Bleak House is Dickens best the author says. P. 115
Morgan has the only original of A Christmas Carol in his museum in NYC. P. 115
The point is that Morgan collected print.
So glad I am a print native.
Dickens did a lot of rewriting and cutting. P. 116
Dickens obviously wrote cursively. The personal touch of handwriting is irreplaceable.
"I like writing things out in longhand." Barack Obama P. 119
Thinking about that book building a bridge to the 18th Century.
I looked at two of Quindlen's novels today but decided to pass.
Jennifer Egan writes in longhand. I understand. It's the way to really feel the words. P. 119
Drafts disappear inside the computer. P. 121
Good penmanship is as quaint as it can be. P. 124
Should poetry always be handwritten? P. 127
Suffice it to say this book is an exhortation that everyone could benefit from writing.
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