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{ Monday, November 9, 2009 }

Happiest Moment

I am reading The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis and came across one of my favorites, which I had forgotten, Happiest Moment:

If you ask her what is a favorite story she has written, she will hesitate for a long time and then say it may be this story that she read in a book once: an English-language teacher in China asked his Chinese student to say what was the happiest moment in his life. The student hesitated for a long time. At last he smiled with embarrassment and said that his wife had once gone to Beijing and eaten duck there, and she often told him about it, and he would have to say that the happiest moment of his life was her trip, and the eating of the duck.

And this, related: A wonderful video from This American Life about another 'shared' experience.

LINK | 7:09 PM | TB

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{ COMMENTS }

I love Davis's story The Caterpillar, a perfect short piece about how we negotiate with ourselves as to how much compassion we can afford.

Robert Everett-Green | November 20, 2009 7:53 AM

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I think we have experiences in order to share them as much as to have them.

This sharing is so basic in terms of how we develop as people.

The infant does not even know it's own emotions until they are shared/mirrored.

There must be tremendous pleasure connected to this that someone can scientifically explain but that we all just know.

heather | November 21, 2009 10:47 AM

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