- Corinne Botz, “Dad’s Den”
One of my favorites passages from Marguerite Duras’ book Practicalities:
Some women can never manage it -they can’t handle their houses, they overload them, clutter them up, never create an opening towards the world outside…They know they’ll never be able to overcome the incredible difficulties of keeping a house in order. Though anyhow there’s nothing to be done about it. That sort of woman simply shifts disorder from one room to another; moves it about or hides it in cellars, disused rooms, trunks or cupboards…They don’t realize that disorder, or in other words the accumulation of possessions, can only be dealt with in a way that’s extremely painful. Namely by parting with them. Some families with big houses keep everything for three hundred years - dresses, toys, and anything to do with the children, the squire or they mayor.
I’ve thrown things away, and regretted it. Sooner or later you always regret having thrown things away at some time or other. But if you don’t part with anything, if you try to hold back time, you can spend your whole life tidying life up and documenting it. Women often keep gas and electric bills for twenty years, for no other reason than to record time and their own virtues. The time they once had, but of which nothing remains.
-
dylancomehome liked this
-
secretlifeofobjects posted this
