by Dave Eggers
For most readers of my generation, words were often first accompanied by images, and we learned to discern between Dulac's IOOI Nights and Segrelles' illustrations for the same. Between Tenniel's Alice and Rackham's Alice, and the all-powerful alchemy these combinations invoke. In an equally powerful way, we learned to distinguish Carl Barks Donald Duck from everybody else's, or Curt Swan's Superman above all pale imitations.
Perhaps, to some, this marriage of images and words seems like an abomination, but in fact, it prefigures and evolves the role that words have in our everyday life. We read now more than ever. Many will argue that we mostly read and write in cryptic acronyms (LOL, OMG, IMO) or other, equally prosaic forms.
But I believe that language mutates and transforms through usage, and that many of the forms it takes are shocking in the short term—comic books, rock and roll songs, beat poetry—only to liberate us in the long term. Plus, I'm always curious about the future of words (and images, of course) and find great delight upon learning a new usage or a witty turn of phrase.
Books are objects of great power and reservoirs of magic, cherished and guarded by alchemists and conjurers throughout the ages. If magic is made of sounds and letters, signs and symbols, then the ciphering of one's knowledge or the sum of one's life experience can be transmitted through our words and their music.
To me, Bleak House or Pedro Paramo or El Aleph are grimoires, and every time one of these books is opened, a tacit ritual takes place. The book reads you back, it scrutinizes and probes the limits of your language, the cadence and music in your soul, seeking rhymes and rhythms that will mimic those within its pages. The grimoire searches for an initiate and, magically, even changes with him or her through the years. This is inevitable. Hermetic wisdom dictates that each book will, in time, find its perfect reader. And the memory of who you were before you read it and the revelation of who you became after you did so will be brandished upon your biography as forcefully as an actual trip somewhere or a physical encounter. Sometimes even more so.
All reading should be nonrequired. At least for the true reader—for reading is a natural function, much like breathing. If every book we encounter is a blind date, then love stories statistically will be outnumbered by the disappointments.
But for the true reader, curiosity becomes an essential spiritual function and mystery its ultimate goal. In our books, we seek not answers, really, to that nebulous longing our heart feels eternally; we actually seek the great questions.
And this, I believe, is where my third grade teacher had it wrong: Answers can only aspire to be important. Questions remain forever relevant, forever eloquent. Answers are science, questions are poetry.
We can learn so much more from poetry than science.
GUILLERMO DEL TORO
Guillermo del Toro is an Academy Award-nominated writer, director, and producer. He is the creator of Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, Cronos, and Devil's Backbone, among others. Cronos garnered the Critics' Week Grand Prize at Cannes in 1991, as well as nine Mexican Academy Awards. Pan's Labyrinth earned prizes worldwide, including three Oscars. It went on to become the highest grossing Spanish language film ever in the United States, and the only Spanish language film so far to receive six Oscar nominations.
I
Best American Front Section
STUDENTS AND TEACHERS at Cleveland Elementary in San Francisco recently unearthed a time capsule planted in a school wall circa 1910. The battered box held photographs, books, city documents, and a letter to the future. In its way, the Best American Front Section aspires to something similar, aiming to preserve a few snapshots from the past year: poems, quotes, lawsuits, town names, commune names, faxes, video game handles, WikiLeaks, and more. And: mad props to anyone reading this in the year 2110. How's the weather?
Best American Fax from Don DeLillo
Don DeLillo
FROM PEN America
Last year, the PEN American Center,founded in 1921 and devoted to both literature and human rights, interviewed novelist Don DeLillo. DeLillo does not use e-mail, and so responded by fax. That fax is here excerpted.
On Religion
The Latin mass had an odd glamour—all that mystery and tradition. Religion has not been a major element in my work, and for some years now I think the true American religion has been "the American People." The term quickly developed an aura of sanctity and inviolability. First used mainly by politicians at nominating conventions and in inaugural speeches, the phrase became a mainstay of news broadcasts and other more or less nonpartisan occasions. All the reverence once invested in the name of God was transferred to an entity safely defined as you and me. But do we still exist? Does the phrase still soar over the airwaves? Or are the American People dead and buried? It seems the case, more than ever, that there are only factions, movements, sects, splinter groups, and deeply aggrieved individual voices. The media absorbs it all.
On Paranoia and Discontent
The earlier era of paranoia in this country was based largely on violent events and on the suspicions that spread concerning the true nature of the particular event, from Dallas to Memphis to Vietnam. Who was behind it, what led to it, what will flow from it? How many shots, how many gunmen, how many wounds on the President's body? People believed, sometimes justifiably, that they were being lied to by the government or elements within the government. Today, it seems, the virus is self-generated. Distrust and disbelief are centered in a deep need to raise individual discontent to an art form, often with no basis in fact. In many cases, people choose to believe a clear falsehood, about President Obama, for instance, or September 11, or immigrants, or Muslims. These are often symbolic beliefs, usable kinds of fiction, a means of protest rising from political, economic, religious, or racial complaints, or just a lousy life in a dying suburb.
On Saul Bellow
I still have my old paperback copy of Herzog (Fawcett Crest, 95¢), a novel I recall reading with great pleasure. It wasn't the first Bellow novel I encountered—that was The Victim, whose opening sentence ("On some nights New York is as hot as Bangkok.") seemed a novel in itself, at least to a New Yorker. Bellow was a strong force in our literature, making leaps from one book to the next. He was one of the writers who expanded my sense of the American novel's range, or, maybe a better word for Bellow—its clutch, its grasp—and it's a special honor to be awarded a prize that bears his name.
On Technology
The question is whether the enormous force of technology, and its insistence on speeding up time and compacting space, will reduce the human need for narrative—narrative in the traditional sense. Novels will become user-generated. An individual will not only tap a button that gives him a novel designed to his particular tastes, needs, and moods, but he'll also be able to design his own novel, very possibly with him as main character. The world is becoming increasingly customized, altered to individual specifications. This shrinking context will necessarily change the language that people speak, write, and read. Here's a stray question (or a metaphysical leap): Will language have the same depth and richness in electronic form that it can reach on the printed page? Does the beauty and variability of our language depend to an important degree on the medium that carries the words? Does poetry need paper?
On Freedom to Write
The writer's role is to sit in a room and write. We can leave it at that. Or we can add that writers have always felt a natural kinship, country to country, language to language. We can know a country through its fiction, often a far more telling means of enlightenment and revelation than any other. The shelves in the room where I'm writing these words are crammed with books by foreign writers. This is work that I've been reading and re-reading for decades, title after title forming a stream of warm memories. It's important to remember that we can also know a country from the writers who are not permitted to publish their work—fiction, nonfiction, journalism—in accord with honest observation and clear conscience. Writers who are subjected to state censorship, threatened w
ith imprisonment or menaced by violent forces in their society clearly merit the support of those of us who enjoy freedom of expression. There are things a writer never takes for granted, like the long life he will need to live in order to write the long novel he is trying to write. Maybe freedom to write belongs at the top of the list, on behalf of those writers who face the grim reality of being enemies of the state.
Best American WikiLeaks Revelations
Over the last year, Australian citizen Julian Assange and his organization, WikiLeaks, have uploaded hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. government documents to the Internet. These documents, including many secret cables and memorandums, were allegedly obtained with the help of United States Army Private Bradley Manning. What follows are a few strange and enlightening excerpts culled from the thousands of pages available online.
Subject: SADDAM'S MESSAGE OF FRIENDSHIP TO PRESIDENT BUSH
Created: 1990-07-25
Origin: Baghdad
To: Secretary of State
From: Ambassador April Glaspie, Embassy Baghdad
SADDAM WISHED TO CONVEY AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT BUSH: IRAQ WANTS FRIENDSHIP, BUT DOES THE USG?...IF IRAQ IS PUBLICLY HUMILIATED BY THE USG, IT WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO "RESPOND," HOWEVER ILLOGICAL AND SELF DESTRUCTIVE THAT WOULD PROVE.
...
SADDAM SAID HE FULLY BELIEVES THE USG WANTS PEACE, AND THAT IS GOOD. BUT DO NOT, HE ASKED, USE METHODS WHICH YOU SAY YOU DO NOT LIKE, METHODS LIKE ARM-TWISTING.
...
SADDAM SAID THAT THE IRAQIS KNOW WHAT WAR IS, WANT NO MORE OF IT—"DO NOT PUSH US TO IT; DO NOT MAKE IT THE ONLY OPTION LEFT WITH WHICH WE CAN PROTECT OUR DIGNITY."
***
Subject: INTER-KOREAN RED CROSS TALKS ON FAMILY
REUNIFICATION
Created: 2009-09-01
Origin: Seoul
To: Secretary of State
From: MarkTokola, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy Seoul
XXXXX asserted that once the DPRK identifies politically reliable family members to participate in the upcoming reunions, they will be transported to Pyongyang and then "fattened up" with regular meals and vitamins to mask the extent of food shortages and chronic malnutrition in the north. The "lucky" DPRK reunion participants will also be provided with new clothing—suits for men and traditional Korean "hanbok" for women—for the televised event. In our earlier meeting, XXXXX had commented that MOU gives "pocket and travel money" to ROK participants which they then pass on to their North Korean relatives. XXXXX sighed that the majority of the MOU cash is usually pocketed by North Korean officials, who also force the North Korean participants to return their new clothes.
***
Subject: XXXXX SHARES IDEAS ON DPRK INTERACTION
Created: 2007-05-23
Origin: Seoul
To: Secretary of State
From: Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, Embassy Seoul
...arranging an Eric Clapton concert in Pyongyang could also be useful, he said, given Kim Jong-il's second son's devotion to the rock legend.
***
Subject: BIO NOTES ON ERITREAN PRESIDENT ISAIAS AFWERKI IS
ISAIAS UNHINGED?"
Created: 2008-11-12
Origin: Asmara
To: Secretary of State
From: Ambassador Ronald K. McMullen, EmbassyAsmara
Hot Temper: At a January 2008 dinner he hosted for a codel and embassy officials, Isaias became involved in a heated discussion with his Amcit legal advisor about some tomato seedlings the legal advisor provided to Isaias' wife. Isaias complained that despite tender care by his wife, the plants produced only tiny tomatoes. When the legal advisor explained that they were cherry tomatoes and were supposed to be small, Isaias lost his temper and stormed out of the venue, much to the surprise of everyone, including his security detail.
Hard-hearted: When a visiting U.S. movie star in early 2008 raised the plight of two Embassy Asmara FSNs who have been imprisoned without charge since 2001, Isaias glared stonily at her and replied, "Would you like me to hold a trial and then hang them?"
***
Subject: ICTY: AN INSIDE LOOK INTO MILOSEVIC'S HEALTH AND
SUPPORT NETWORK
Created: 2003-11-12
Origin: Embassy The Hague
To: XXXXX
From: Sobel
He calls his wife, Mirjana Markovic, every morning, continuing what McFadden described as an "extraordinary relationship"; Milosevic could manipulate a nation, he said, but struggled to manage his wife who, on the contrary, seemed to exert just such a pull on him.
***
Subject: QADHAFI CHILDREN SCANDALS SPILLING OVER INTO POLITICS
Created: 2010-02-02
Origin: Tripoli
To: Secretary of State
From: Ambassador Gene A. Cretz, Embassy Tripoli
From Mutassim al-Qadhafi's headline-grabbing St. Barfs New Year's Eve bash to Hannibal's latest violent outburst, the Qadhafi family has provided local observers with enough dirt for a Libyan soap opera ... National Security Advisor Mutassim al-Qadhafi kicked off 2010 in the same way he spent 2009—with a New Year's Eve trip to St. Barfs—reportedly featuring copious amounts of alcohol and a million-dollar personal concert courtesy of Beyonce, Usher, and other musicians. Mutassim seemed to be surprised by the fact that his party was photographed and the focus of international media attention.
***
Subject: MUBARAK DISCUSSES BACK SURGERY, GAMALAS PERFECTIONIST
Created: 2008-01-14
Origin: Cairo
To: Secretary of State
From: Ambassador Frank Ricciardone, Embassy Cairo
Throughout the meeting, Mubarak was expansive and in fine humor. He rose easily from his seat several times to point out activity on the golf course and to be photographed with his visitors. He engaged the visitors extensively on the topic of food, stressing that his favorite fare is Egyptian popular breakfast dishes, such as tamiya (felafel) and foul (beans). He ordered up a huge tray of freshly made tamiya sandwiches for lunch, and lustily consumed several.
***
Subject: ALLEGED ARMY CORRUPTION—A PERSPECTIVE
Created: 2009-03-12
Origin: Lima
To: Secretary of State
From: Ambassador P. Michael McKinley, Embassy Lima
XXXXX officers may have continued to cooperate with drug traffickers. His main suspicion surrounded a visit XXXXXXXXXXXX by the Director of the National Chamber of Fishing of Piura, Rolando Eugenio Velasco Heysen, to meet regional Army commander General Paul da Silva.
XXXXX speculated that Da Silva and Velasco—who was arrested in October 2007 for attempting to export 840 kilograms of cocaine hidden in frozen fish—were coordinating drug shipments. An investigative journalist later reported that both Da Silva and General Edwin Donayre had met with Velasco, but that Velasco claimed he was merely promoting the consumption of high-protein squid by the army.
***
Subject: HANDLING VISA REQUEST FROM BRAZILIAN INVOLVED IN
THE 1969 KIDNAPPING OF THE U.S. AMBASSADOR
Created: 2009-10-15
Origin: Brasilia
To: Secretary of State
From: Charge d' Affaires, a.i. Lisa Kubiske, Embassy Brasilia
Consulate General Sao Paulo on October 6 issued a visa to Paulo de Tarso Venceslau, who after the fact was identified in Brazilian media as one of the kidnappers of the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil in 1969 ... Venceslau was quoted as saying, "I never have had a great love for the United States," but that he had always had an interest in seeing the life and culture in the cities of New York, Chicago, and New Orleans. Venceslau said he had tried three times in the last four decades to get a visa at the Consulate in Sao Paulo but was denied for being considered "a terrorist"...One article reports that Venceslau is due to receive his passport and visa this week and that Venceslau is not worried since "Obama just received the Nobel Peace prize. It would look bad if he cancelled my passport." Another newspaper reported
Venceslau as saying "my only fear is that there was been a mistake and that the Consulate will cancel my visa. I would like to listen to jazz in Chicago but I don't believe in miracles."
***
Subject: WHITHER M/V FAINA'S TANKS?
Created: 2008-10-02
Origin: Nairobi
To: Secretary of State
From: Ambassador Michael E. Ranneberger, Embassy Nairobi
A shipment of 33 Ukrainian T-72 tanks and other ammunition and equipment aboard the M/V Faina, currently under the control of pirates off the coast of Somalia, has raised questions and controversy in Kenya about their final destination. It is a poorly kept secret that the tanks are bound for the Government of South Sudan—and that the Government of Kenya has been facilitating shipments from Ukraine to the Government of South Sudan since 2007...
In a move likely aimed at stemming controversy, the Government of Kenya has claimed that the ultimate destination for the shipment is the Kenyan Armed Forces.