#jeanrhys

“Reading [Rhys], we understand that we deceive ourselves when we hope that the powerless are not despised and pushed aside.”—Diana Athill, London, 1986

“Her life was. The work is. We can’t trade either back. There’s no objective metric for how much brilliance might be required to redeem a lifetime of damage—and no ratio that justifies the conversion. Whatever beauty comes from pain can’t usually be traded back for happiness.” (Words by Leslie Jamison from The Recovering: Intoxication and its Aftermath) #jeanrhys #lesliejamison #therecovering #confession #intoxication #literature #writing #redemption #damage (at Cuyahoga River) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoE4woSBuj-/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=j7i1pxoww6ci

"I have said all I want to say. I have tried to make you understand. But nothing has changed." . I forgot how much I like this book. #widesargassosea #jeanrhys #quote #bookstagram #feministlit

Jean in old age. The coolest

Voyage in the Dark #jeanrhys

But this is my attitude to life. Please, please, monsieur et madame, mister, missis and miss, I am trying so hard to be like you. I know I don’t succeed, but look how hard I try. Three hours to choose a hat; every morning an hour and a half trying to make myself look like everybody else. Every word I say has chains round its ankles; every thought I think is weighted with heavy weights. Since I was born, hasn’t every word I’ve said, every thought I’ve thought, everything I’ve done, been tied up, weighted, chained? And, mind you, I know that with all this I don’t succeed. Or I succeed in flashes only too damned well… But think how hard I try and how seldom I dare. Think – and have a bit of pity. That is, if you ever think, you apes, which I doubt.

One realized all sorts of things. The value of an illusion, for instance, and that the shadow can be more important than the substance. All sorts of things #JeanRhys #madrid #tardedeverano #sombra https://www.instagram.com/p/CSukpNdMmq5/?utm_medium=tumblr