MIRRORHOUSE

a compendium of literary artifacts, both actual and fraudulent

from “A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease” by Jonathan Safran Foer: c The “silence mark” signifies an absence of language, and there is at least one on every page of the story of my family life. Most often used in the conversations I have with my grandmother about her life in Europe during the war, and in conversations with my father about our family’s history of heart disease—we have forty-one heart attacks between us, and counting—the silence mark is a staple of familial punctuation. Note the use of silence in the following brief exchange, when my father called me at college, the morning of his most recent angioplasty: “Listen,” he said, and then surrendered to a long pause, as if the pause were what I was supposed to listen to. “I’m sure everything’s gonna be fine, but I just wanted to let you know—” “I already know,” I said. “c” “c” “c” “c” “O.K.,” he said. “I’ll talk to you tonight,” I said, and I could hear, in the receiver, my own heartbeat. He said, “Yup.”

from “A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease” by Jonathan Safran Foer:

c The “silence mark” signifies an absence of language, and there is at least one on every page of the story of my family life. Most often used in the conversations I have with my grandmother about her life in Europe during the war, and in conversations with my father about our family’s history of heart disease—we have forty-one heart attacks between us, and counting—the silence mark is a staple of familial punctuation. Note the use of silence in the following brief exchange, when my father called me at college, the morning of his most recent angioplasty:

“Listen,” he said, and then surrendered to a long pause, as if the pause were what I was supposed to listen to. “I’m sure everything’s gonna be fine, but I just wanted to let you know—”
“I already know,” I said.
“c”
“c”
“c”
“c”
“O.K.,” he said.
“I’ll talk to you tonight,” I said, and I could hear, in the receiver, my own heartbeat.
He said, “Yup.”

3 months ago

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    could never finish one...I’ve never forgotten this short piece by JSF.
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