In memoir, you have to be particularly careful not to alienate the reader by making the material seem too lived-in. It mustn't have too much of the smell of yourself, otherwise the reader will be unable to make it her own.
Rachel CuskRead
To become a mother is to learn a whole language - to relearn it, perhaps, as it was the tongue to which we were born - and hence gain entrance to a forgotten world of comprehension.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Being a mother involves learning and understanding a deep, intrinsic language of love and care.
This quote emphasizes that motherhood is not only about nurturing a child but also about rediscovering and learning a unique way of communicating and understanding the world from a maternal perspective. It highlights the profound connection between a mother and her child, suggesting that this bond allows one to access a deeper level of comprehension and emotional richness that might have been forgotten over time.
Themes
MotherhoodLanguageComprehensionConnectionLove
In practice
Example use cases
During a Mother's Day speech, you can use this quote to highlight the unique bond between mothers and their children.
More from Rachel Cusk
All quotes →As writers go, I have a skin of average thickness. I am pleased by a good review, disappointed by a bad. None of it penetrates far enough to influence the thing I write next.
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There is always shame in the creation of an expressive work, whether it's a book or a clay pot. Every artist worries about how they will be seen by others through their work. When you create, you aspire to do justice to yourself, to remake yourself, and there is always the fear that you will expose the very thing that you hoped to transform.
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Shame is something you'll find a lot of - particularly Catholic - girls feel about their bodies, about their sexuality, about their diet, about anything you like. Shame is the way you keep them down. That's the way to crush a girl.
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I have no sense of a model or predecessor when I write a memoir: For me, the form exists as a method of processing material that retains too many connections to life to be approached strictly and aesthetically. A memoir is a risk, a one-off, a bastard child.
Rachel CuskRead
It seems to me that 'women's writing' by nature would not seek equivalence in the male world. It would be a writing that sought to express a distinction, not deny it.
Rachel CuskRead
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