A Pairing
Didion's memoir and Tartt's novel both refuse the therapeutic arc of grief. Didion explores the mind's failure to accept what it knows, providing lived-in examples of magical thinking that are far more effective than abstractions. Tartt traces what happens when loss becomes the unprocessed engine of an entire life. Both are deeply interested in objects as anchors for the dead. Neither book argues that holding on is good or that letting go is necessary. They are the most relatable and honest pieces of writing on grief I have encountered.
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The men also put rabbit skins on their arms and legs, for the rabbit represents humility, because he is quiet and soft and not self-asserting-- a quality which we must all possess when we go to the center of the world.View all passages →