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devinayo's review
5.0
Reading Lydia Davis has always made me wonder how she could do so much with so little words. The writings in Essays: One show the hard work and long process behind her tight and concise stories. Through the essays, Davis provides an insight into how she sees, reads, thinks, writes, and revises her works. A huge chunk of the book is dedicated to the writers which influence her writing, and why these writers matter a great deal to her.
The most interesting parts in the book are perhaps when Lydia scrutinizes writings, either her own or others, and pick them apart through a somewhat surgical level of precision in order to understand why and how the words work. This preciseness, along with her delicate approach, is the main ingredient to the seemingly effortless magic in Lydia Davis' stories.
While brevity is the end, the process is sometimes grueling and never-ending. Lydia speaks openly about her habit of revising sentences, not stopping until she gets every word right, down to the last one. In one essay, she deconstructs the process of revising one sentence. Later, in an interview with The Book Show podcast, she said that she revised the piece on revising one sentence.
Consider, for instance, one of her tips for writers: "Analyzing will help you solve problems: if you have trouble with endings, read and analyze endings; if you have trouble with lush descriptions, see how descriptions function for different writers. For any problem you have, there will be an answer in the close analysis of one or more good writers."
Many people liken writing to arts, and while there might be some truth in that, Lydia Davis treats writing as a puzzle: one you have to observe carefully, before you even begin to think and start, which will present you challenges along the way, but is solvable nonetheless if you put your mind and time and energy to tinker with the words.
The most interesting parts in the book are perhaps when Lydia scrutinizes writings, either her own or others, and pick them apart through a somewhat surgical level of precision in order to understand why and how the words work. This preciseness, along with her delicate approach, is the main ingredient to the seemingly effortless magic in Lydia Davis' stories.
While brevity is the end, the process is sometimes grueling and never-ending. Lydia speaks openly about her habit of revising sentences, not stopping until she gets every word right, down to the last one. In one essay, she deconstructs the process of revising one sentence. Later, in an interview with The Book Show podcast, she said that she revised the piece on revising one sentence.
Consider, for instance, one of her tips for writers: "Analyzing will help you solve problems: if you have trouble with endings, read and analyze endings; if you have trouble with lush descriptions, see how descriptions function for different writers. For any problem you have, there will be an answer in the close analysis of one or more good writers."
Many people liken writing to arts, and while there might be some truth in that, Lydia Davis treats writing as a puzzle: one you have to observe carefully, before you even begin to think and start, which will present you challenges along the way, but is solvable nonetheless if you put your mind and time and energy to tinker with the words.
lilactea123's review
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
drreese's review
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
Some inspiring passages, some fascinating and angular observations, some tedium (which is only to be expected of a writer so perceptive and involved with tiny details and minutiae of the written word). Lydia Davis is such a good and interesting companion!
oceliastanley's review
challenging
informative
reflective
i am so pleased with myself for this impulse purchase. something i will definitely read again! when i say i want to be articulate, i mean like lydia davis. she is so precise and intentional with her words, and each essay is so neatly revised that it flows like stream of consciousness almost, but not rambly at all. she is also so aware of her own biases and fallibility - every statement is qualified, or followed up with doubts, but not in a tiresome way - her writing is still very self assured somehow. trying to work out how she does this. some essays definitely hit harder than others (as is the way of the world, or at least the way of essay collections) i particularly enjoyed the ones about memory and her own writing process/influences. one of those books that reminded me why i like to read/made me excited to read more!
charlie1000r's review
5.0
This was an absolutely fantastic collection of essays. I mostly know Davis for her short stories, but it was great to get a better understanding of her life and work through these non-fiction pieces. My favorites were the "Forms and Influences" essays, four in total, which discuss her methods and the other writers she's read over the years. Because her stories are so short, there are a couple of instances where she was able to include several versions of the same story in its entirety in order to show its evolution, which provided some great insight into her process. I was less thrilled with some of her essays on visual artists, but even they were worthwhile reads simply for showing the breadth of her writings. I can't wait for volume two, which I believe will focus on her work as a translator.
asensualcow's review
I decided to change up my approach to goodreads cause star reviews are dumb I think. or like not enough. anyways I read this before any of her short fiction and now i'm so excited to read her short fiction!