on russians and writing

The week before last, while auditing Gary Morson’s  Intro to Russian Lit class at Northwestern, I began to think differently about the importance of writing- even about those things that seem mundane- for the human heart.   

Morson explained to us that Russians see literature as not only the highest of the arts but as the very reason for existence and the essence of our humanity.  To write or become the subject of writing is what makes you truly human.  There are stories of millions of people -dying of mass starvation under Lenin- who were keeping diaries.  They are quoted as saying, “This is why I have lived- to record this.”  Dostoevsky, writing a response to Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, said of the book, “At last, the reason for the existence of the Russian people is justified.”

One of the most identifiable experiences of Dostoevsky’s life was that he suffered through what has come to be known as the “mock execution.”    He was brought out as a prisoner to be shot.  For one hour he thought he was about to die before being surprisingly pardoned and sent to four years in a Siberian prison camp.  This experience  made one of his fellow prisoners go mad and kill himself.  Dostoevsky?  He took the emotional trauma of the experience and wrote The Brothers Karamazov.  His experience and the reflections on the psychology of what a person goes through right before an execution would color his writing for the rest of his life. Why? Because, according to Dostoevsky, part of being human is the sense of a possible future.  When that possible future is taken away- even for a few agonizing hours- the experience changes you.

Why do I share these things?  Why do we write, blog, journal?  There is something inherently human in telling a story and understanding ourselves, our lives, our experiences through words.  Many of you who follow our Little family are bloggers yourselves.  If you don’t find a blog a suitable outlet for processing your life, then maybe you have a journal or you have the precious gift of letter writing.  Most of us, at the very least, in the dark moments of night when we are lost in our own quiet thoughts seek to create order out of our emotions and thoughts through words.  I think the Russians were on to something in the significance they attributed to writing things down.  If you are not already writing or don’t ‘fancy’ yourself as a writer, consider trying it... even if it is in the privacy of some hidden file on your computer or dusty spiral notebook in your drawer.  

I finished Anna Karenina this week.  Holy mole, my friends, you need to read this book.  The final chapters are some of the most beautifully written struggles of the human soul for faith and knowledge of God I’ve ever read in literature. More thoughts on Anna Karenina will have to wait until November. Until then Morson is going through the The Brothers Karamazov, so tune in next week for more on that novel. 

I didn’t get down to Northwestern this week.  We had our own little excitement here at the Littles.  Jason had the privilege of spending two nights in the hospital after having his knee reopened by his orthopedic surgeon.  After running a fever for two weeks and having some other mysterious symptoms Jason sought out his orthopedist.  When the infection seemed serious enough and the cause still not entirely clear, the doctors determined that he needed to be admitted to the hospital to monitor his infection and treat him with high powered antibiotics.  He is home now and feeling so much better.  We are still waiting to find out what caused the infection.  Until then he is having a daily dose of intravenous antibiotics administered through an internal catheter that was put in his arm for a few weeks.  It seems these medicines are working as his fever has subsided and his knee is feeling so much better.  I think we will finally let out our breath when he is no longer on these high powered drugs and when we have some sense of what caused the sickness.  There were some tense hours and sleepless nights in there, but what a difference a few days can make.  Thank God for antibiotics!