My Inspiration for July 2020

Jul 31, 2020

2 min read

I felt super inspired this July and I read some amazing books; Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin (I watched the film years ago, of course, but now I wanted to read the book too), The Secret History by Donna Tartt which really amazed me, Sex, Art and American Culture; a collection of essays by Camille Paglia which I enjoyed immensely because Paglia is brilliant, original, straightforward, she always penetrates to the core of things and always says what she means and isn’t afraid of being disliked, and those are some qualities I admire, and so consequently her writing is the same. She won’t sugarcoat anything for you, she writes it as it is. And lastly, I read Torn Apart: Life of Ian Curtis by Mick Meddles and Lindsey Reade which gave a fascinating insight into the life of the band and life of Ian, it was poignant and sad, but in a catharsis way. I had already read Deborah Curtis’s Touching From the Distance, but I feel that her vision was somewhat clouded by jealousies and bitterness, so Torn Apart seemed more sincere and more objective. Then I had to watch Control (2007) again and listen to Joy Division, hearing every lyric and sound in a fresh and exciting way. Also, it being the month of Reinaldo Arenas’s birthday, my thought drifted to him as well and here is something he said that I liked: “Mine is not an obedient writing. I think that literature as any art has to be irreverent.”

“Edmund was your friend. I too am very sorry that he is dead. But I think you are grieving yourselves sick over this, and not only does that not help him, it hurts you. And besides, is death really so terrible a thing? It seems terrible to you, because you are young, but who is to say he is not better off now than you are? Or – if death is a journey to another place – that you will not see him again? …. It does not do to be frightened of things about which you know nothing,’ he said. ‘You are like children. Afraid of the dark.”(The Secret History)