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Georges Duhamel on the Writing of Literature (and Life?)

Below is a passage from The Mission of Literature by the French literary scholar Georges Duhamel, a defense of the idea of humanism propounded by Erasmus and Cervantes.

The extract, is, according to Kenzaburo Oe (the source for the quote, writing in El País) from the book’s chapter on Cervantes. Obviously Duhamel was thinking about the life of the great author of El Quijote in his exhortation to the young concerning what they should do if they are of a literary bent.

Or perhaps even if they are not of a literary bent.

As Robert Coles and other important psychiatrists have shown, we are all, at the core, narrators of our own existence. Learning to tell good stories—ones that fascinate and edify—about ourselves and others might be the difference between a life of purpose and fulfillment and one of disappointment and dread.

“So, young person, above all, live life. Drink abundantly from the milk of the udder of life in order to feed your future creations. You say you want to write good novels? Take my advice and board a boat in some port. Travel the world earning your living in modest occupations and learn to put up with poverty. Don’t be in a hurry to pick up a pen. Subject yourself to pain and suffering. Learn from the thousands of people you come across. What I really wish to say as I give this advice is never ever try to slide past the anxiety that others generate in you or the adversities that you might have to experience in order to make them happy. (...) You want to write good novels? Then, listen to me well. Above all, try to forget the desire to do so. Set out on a journey with no fixed route. Sharpen your sight, your hearing, your sense of smell and your appetite. Hope and wait with an open heart.”

1 November 2010