A form of writer’s block: Exhilaration over a new idea which arrives like a gift before sleep. Then, disappointment with how the words land on the page.
A cure (or diversion): Redirection of literary efforts to reading, reading, and more reading, until the pen and notebook are repurposed for architecture diagrams and shopping lists.
A result — five favorite books, in order:
- It Does Not Die, Maitreyi Devi (1974)
- Stoner, John Williams (1965)
- Nine Stories, J.D. Salinger (1953)
- Pnin, Vladimir Nabokov (1957)
- Forbidden Notebook, Alba de Céspedes (1952)
Each is like a textbook: Stoner, on devotion to a single character. Nine Stories, on mastering intrigue and ambiguity. Pnin, on communicating tragedy with comedy. Forbidden Notebook, on precision of emotion. It Does Not Die, on love.