Re: literature
BORDELLO ETIQUETTE
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Being an Armenian writer sometimes feels like being a cuckolded husband: everyone appears to know except him. Kibitzers who wouldn’t dare to tell a bus driver or garbage collector what to do, feel fully qualified to tell him what to think, feel, write, and sometimes even how to live. How many times I have been told to be positive; to speak of problems only if I can provide instant and painless solutions; to mention corruption only if I can produce evidence; to employ a politically correct vocabulary lest I offend someone’s sensibilities: and this in an environment where writers are ruthlessly silenced and starved. To these ladies and gentlemen (if you will forgive the outrageous overstatement) I say: A writer is first and foremost a human being who is not even remotely tempted to conform to anyone’s prefabricated image of him. He does not write to have your agreement, approval, or support. You may read or ignore him. You may accept or reject him. What you may not do is order him the way you order a pizza. He is not there to sell you anything. He speaks as a witness and recognizes only the people as his jury and history as his judge.
BORDELLO ETIQUETTE
********************
Being an Armenian writer sometimes feels like being a cuckolded husband: everyone appears to know except him. Kibitzers who wouldn’t dare to tell a bus driver or garbage collector what to do, feel fully qualified to tell him what to think, feel, write, and sometimes even how to live. How many times I have been told to be positive; to speak of problems only if I can provide instant and painless solutions; to mention corruption only if I can produce evidence; to employ a politically correct vocabulary lest I offend someone’s sensibilities: and this in an environment where writers are ruthlessly silenced and starved. To these ladies and gentlemen (if you will forgive the outrageous overstatement) I say: A writer is first and foremost a human being who is not even remotely tempted to conform to anyone’s prefabricated image of him. He does not write to have your agreement, approval, or support. You may read or ignore him. You may accept or reject him. What you may not do is order him the way you order a pizza. He is not there to sell you anything. He speaks as a witness and recognizes only the people as his jury and history as his judge.
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