Skip to content

Introduction

Published by Brad Johnson on 07/30/2020

What week of lockdown are we in, as I write this? I hardly know any more. Quite early on, walking at dusk, I heard whooping and clapping from houses far away, the sound carried on the wind. I stood in a field thinking of all the people who have died, and the dedication of those who had cared for them.

But soon everything that had felt so tragic and dramatic to begin with – thousands of people ill and dying, the great pause, the intense dreams, the solidarity clapping – came to feel normal. Lethargy took over, until that too wore away. I suppose most of us got used to our restricted worlds, moods and thoughts blooming and fading, and the almost imperceptible succession of phases, to do with how the light falls into a room, say, or how a new particular thing – a book, a film, a habit – establishes itself.

In Britain, a question is taken from a member of the public in the daily political briefings. A hushed voice reminds us that the Cabinet member present has not seen the question in advance, as though this were a political satire or a rehearsal, a performance of national tragedy rather than the real thing.

Alone, we stare moodily at our screens, then join meetings and smile with relief when people we know look back, face to face.

‘What have we learned from the pieces coming in during this time?’ I asked at an editorial meeting.

‘Maybe,’ someone answered, ‘that many of us already had a fragile connection with the outside world.’ It must be partly the nature of writing life, but the pieces in this issue all, in some way or other, speak to confinement or escape. Emma Cline’s story is set in a closed center, ‘not quite rehab but some way station before rehab’. The inmates include a famous TV chef: ‘Thora had read every disgusting thing G. had done’; ‘every hot-tub dickgraze’ and ‘drugged-up gropes of cowering PAs in sensible flats’. Thora herself had created teen avatars for her own gratification, not the only reason she is here. The atmosphere, or rather Thora’s state of mind, is dense with cynicism, seduction and loneliness; too dense and complex, one senses, for the nature of the care (vitamins and counselling). Ann Beattie’s protagonist opens a literary magazine and is shocked to see a photograph of her younger self with a friend and their college professor, illustrating a piece written by her former friend, an essay masquerading as fiction, inventing a love triangle in cadences that – adding insult to injury – seem an imitation of her own way of speaking when younger. Adam Nicolson’s story of a seventeenth-century English village struck by the plague reminds us how close we are to that world still, forming theories from rumours and portents, fleeing, drinking, burying the dead.

But we are also learning to pay attention. To properly see. Here is Leanne Shapton, painting interior scenes from her flat in New York, and describing what she sees. Here is Teju Cole, observing trees from walks in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Michael Hofmann, noticing ‘drifts of pollen in the gutters and on car windscreens, like gold dust’, in Gainesville, Florida.

Time is the gift, but of course there are bigger issues to grapple with; questions of freedom and captivity, of responsibility and existential threat. I could go on, finding words for dysfunctional or ineffective governance. If I don’t, it’s not from lack of interest, exactly – but the spittle of the spittlebugs on a thousand stalks of grass this morning seems more real to me now; or the hornet searching every corner of my room before it leaves, duty done. The light filters through the leaves outside my window; something moves – a dragonfly? No, a spiderweb, swaying in the wind.

I am not talking about beauty. Barry Lopez has described how observing a scene (a bear, say, feeding from a carcass) without automatically collapsing the moment into language, deepens the experience of seeing. His message applies to this pandemic too. I hope that by the time you read this, the lockdown will be over. Until then, I will be mindful of Lopez’s rules: ‘Perhaps the first rule of everything we endeavor to do is to pay attention. Perhaps the second is to be patient. And perhaps a third is to be attentive to what the body knows.’

 
Artwork © Leanne Shapton

The post Introduction appeared first on Granta.

Published inUncategorized

2,439 Comments

  6. Linette Linette

    Hi to every one, it’s actually a nice for
    me to go to see this web site, it consists of important Information.

    09/04/2021
  8. twitter trend topic twitter trend topic

    I never thought I would see people who viewed my profile on twitter 🙂

    09/16/2021
  13. Nola Breazeale Nola Breazeale

    Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I genuinely enjoyed reading
    it, you could be a great author.I will make certain to bookmark your
    blog and will eventually come back someday.
    I want to encourage continue your great job, have a nice weekend!

    09/24/2021
  14. Charlena Gantz Charlena Gantz

    Wonderful items from you, man. I’ve take note your stuff prior to and you are just extremely magnificent.

    I really like what you’ve bought right here, really like what you’re saying and the way in which during
    which you say it. You are making it entertaining and you continue to take care
    of to stay it sensible. I can’t wait to learn much more from you.
    That is really a terrific site.

    09/24/2021
  15. Yen Christiansen Yen Christiansen

    If some one desires to be updated with hottest technologies therefore he must
    be go to see this website and be up to date all the
    time.

    09/24/2021
  16. Dorsey Silverstein Dorsey Silverstein

    It’s truly a nice and useful piece of information. I’m glad that you
    shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this.
    Thanks for sharing.

    09/24/2021
  17. Drucilla Metz Drucilla Metz

    I blog quite often and I seriously appreciate your information. The article
    has really peaked my interest. I’m going to book mark your site and
    keep checking for new details about once a week. I subscribed to your
    Feed too.

    09/24/2021
  18. Tamala Handler Tamala Handler

    It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this excellent blog!
    I guess for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.

    I look forward to new updates and will share this blog with my Facebook
    group. Chat soon!

    09/24/2021
  19. Louise Kenney Louise Kenney

    Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
    Look advanced to more added agreeable from you!
    However, how could we communicate?

    09/25/2021
  20. Dorsey Silverstein Dorsey Silverstein

    It’s impressive that you are getting ideas from this paragraph as well as from our
    argument made here.

    09/25/2021
  21. Nakesha Burleson Nakesha Burleson

    Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog
    with my myspace group? There’s a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate
    your content. Please let me know. Thank you

    09/25/2021
  22. Marlana Peterka Marlana Peterka

    Your mode of telling everything in this article is really pleasant, every one
    can without difficulty understand it, Thanks a lot.

    09/25/2021
  24. Harriet Tousant Harriet Tousant

    It is in reality a nice and helpful piece of info. I am glad that you
    shared this useful info with us. Please keep us informed like this.
    Thank you for sharing.

    09/25/2021
  25. Leon Moench Leon Moench

    Good post. I will be experiencing many of these issues as well..

    09/25/2021
  26. Lore Mulroy Lore Mulroy

    I was recommended this website by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is written by him
    as nobody else know such detailed about my difficulty. You’re
    incredible! Thanks!

    09/25/2021
  28. Cedric Rase Cedric Rase

    Hi there! This post could not be written any better!

    Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate!
    He always kept talking about this. I will forward this write-up to him.
    Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!

    09/26/2021
  29. Eneida Broderson Eneida Broderson

    I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog.
    Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself?

    Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare
    to see a nice blog like this one these days.

    09/26/2021
  30. Louann Jenks Louann Jenks

    Amazing blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
    A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog
    jump out. Please let me know where you got
    your theme. With thanks

    09/26/2021
  32. Elda Mullenax Elda Mullenax

    Superb, what a blog it is! This webpage presents helpful facts to us, keep it
    up.

    09/28/2021
  39. beğeni satın al beğeni satın al

    twitterda profilime bakanlari görecegimi hiç sanmiyordum 🙂

    09/29/2021
  48. Derick Kindrick Derick Kindrick

    Yes! Finally something about Shantell Burstein.

    09/29/2021
  49. Stephenie Bert Stephenie Bert

    Thanks , I’ve recently been looking for info
    about this topic for a long time and yours is the greatest
    I’ve found out so far. But, what in regards to the bottom
    line? Are you sure about the supply?

    09/30/2021
  50. Jim Belvin Jim Belvin

    It’s hard to come by knowledgeable people about this subject, but you seem like you know what you’re talking about!

    Thanks

    09/30/2021
  52. Hiroko Nauman Hiroko Nauman

    Hi there, I enjoy reading all of your post. I wanted to write a little comment to
    support you.

    09/30/2021
  57. Marvella Abasta Marvella Abasta

    It’s very trouble-free to find out any matter on web as
    compared to textbooks, as I found this article at this web page.

    09/30/2021
  58. Refugia Santucci Refugia Santucci

    Hi there exceptional website! Does running a blog similar to this require
    a great deal of work? I’ve no knowledge of programming however I had been hoping to start
    my own blog soon. Anyways, should you have any suggestions
    or tips for new blog owners please share. I understand this is off subject however I simply wanted
    to ask. Cheers!

    09/30/2021
  59. Dorsey Silverstein Dorsey Silverstein

    Everything is very open with a precise description of
    the issues. It was definitely informative. Your site is very useful.
    Thanks for sharing!

    10/01/2021
  63. Classie Claywell Classie Claywell

    We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
    Your site offered us with valuable information to work on. You have done an impressive job and our entire community will be thankful to you.

    10/01/2021
  64. Keven Portugal Keven Portugal

    That is really attention-grabbing, You are a very skilled blogger.
    I’ve joined your rss feed and sit up for in search of
    more of your fantastic post. Additionally, I have shared your website in my social networks

    10/01/2021
  66. Nguyet Harrison Nguyet Harrison

    It’s an remarkable piece of writing in favor of all the internet people; they will obtain benefit from it I am sure.

    10/01/2021
  72. Kraig Tewell Kraig Tewell

    I am truly thankful to the owner of this website who has shared this wonderful article at here.

    10/01/2021
  73. Hans Ortega Hans Ortega

    Hi there, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one is sharing information, that’s actually good, keep up writing.

    10/01/2021
  171. twitter beğeni hilesi twitter beğeni hilesi

    Arkadaslar bu siteye dün giris yaptim ama 2 3 saat degil benim takipçilerim 12 saat sonra geldi sanirim herkes farkli??

    10/05/2021
  245. خرید کتاب زبان اصلی خرید کتاب زبان اصلی

    Hello, Neat post. There’s an issue together with your website in internet explorer, would check this?
    IE still is the market leader and a good
    part of other people will leave out your magnificent writing
    because of this problem.

    10/08/2021
  352. Hank Gusmar Hank Gusmar

    instagram resmi takipçi satın al

    10/09/2021
  391. youtube beğeni satın al youtube beğeni satın al

    Guys, it doesn’t matter when you come, I think the time doesn’t matter, does it come after you log in to the site, never mind the rest.

    10/10/2021
  393. youtube yorum satın al youtube yorum satın al

    Veriler sanirim gerçek çünki tahmin ettigim çikti

    10/10/2021
  539. Bruce Mcabee Bruce Mcabee

    I just discovered using Joomla for dynamic website design but feel the limitation on use of templates is a major minus. I think it should be possible to use my own template in the design. Anyone help?.

    10/12/2021
  573. eticaret danışmanı eticaret danışmanı

    This is really amazing information. I follow you and your blog constantly. A very successful and effective blog site.

    10/12/2021
  631. kurumsal server kurumsal server

    I found a lot of really useful information. I will always follow your blog. It has useful and accurate information.

    10/13/2021
  638. tegsoft destek tegsoft destek

    I have never read such a successful article before. Really nice blog post. Thanks.

    10/15/2021
  642. Tawanna Tawanna

    I could not refrain from commenting. Perfectly written!

    10/18/2021
  741. instagram takipçi satin al güvenilir instagram takipçi satin al güvenilir

    It’s actually a cool and useful piece of information. I am satisfied that you simply shared this useful information with us.
    Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.

    10/20/2021
  851. beylikdüzü escort beylikdüzü escort

    she was crying 🙂

    10/21/2021