300 Arguments | Sarah Manguso

Reverberating power in 52 words. In 21 words. In 13 words.

So interesting because it isn’t structured like passages pulled from a narrative. The passages are the narrative. A narrative that isn’t linear, but jumps like the memories and thoughts we live by. Separated by lines, the entire book is what the author describes as “a short book composed entirely of what I hoped would be a long book’s quotable passages”. The result is powerful statements that require you to slow down, you might miss their power otherwise, for each inspires reflection of a novel’s length even for 13 words.

I wanted to go further, highlight, and underline them, but I resisted, in an attempt to respect the Seattle Public Library. There were many arguments that I could not understand, some I knew were because of different personal experiences, but also there was much that was thematically lost on me. For those passages I cannot grasp fully, I do feel a sense of disappointment and embarrassment. I wanted to stop rereading them, as if life ends at the discovery of ignorance or literary challenge. With 300 arguments, I wanted to explore the feverish cloud of wisdom and experiences within this book. It is everything to try to know, to be willing to know, to take what resonates, and leave the rest. I intend to keep coming back to it.

A few of my favorites…