Parul Sehgal on the Work of a Critic

I love this. It makes me think of not only Sehgal herself but also Cynthia Ozick, Dwight Garner, and V.S. Pritchett.

I don’t think about criticism in terms of authority. I think about it in terms of charm and persuasion, which anybody can possess. Your authority is in your sentences, in your lede, in how attractive your own prose is. To be a critic is to say, “Try sitting next to me.” That’s the conspiratorial nature of criticism. If you love particular critics, it always feels like they’re talking to you.


The Cut: How I Get It Done: Parul Sehgal, Book Critic

Where the Heart Beats

I’m enjoying Elif Shafak’s surreal novel “The Gaze,” which explores beauty, ugliness, and how we distance ourselves from those we’re ultimately connected to.

Wherever a person hurts, that’s where his heart beats. Keramet Mumi Keske Memis Efendi pressed his fingers to his eyes. To no avail. It didn’t stop. His heart beat in his eyes. And suddenly, the pieces were revited together. He found a way to unite women’s suffering with his own suffering. Because everything was dependent on everything else.

(The Gaze, translated by Brendan Freely, p. 43)