By Jim Heffernan
Here’s how The New York Times introduces this very short beautiful book: “Three months after George Saunders gave a graduation address at Syracuse University, a transcript of that speech was posted on the website of The New York Times, where its simple, uplifting message struck a deep chord. Within days, it had been shared more than one million times. Why? Because Saunders’ words tap into a desire in all of us to lead kinder, more fulfilling lives. Powerful, funny, and wise, “Congratulations, by the way” is an inspiring message from one of today’s most influential and original writers. As slender as a psalm, and as heavy.”—The New York Times
It is indeed short, rated at 53 pages, but half are text and half are an evolving illustration where points of light converge to a white field. It’s a 12 year old book, and I’m very sorry not to have found it sooner.
Here’s an excerpt from page 19-21 I particularly liked:
“Each of us is born with a series of built-in confusions that are probably somehow Darwinian. These are: (1) we’re central to the universe (that is, our personal story is the main and most interesting story, the only story, really); (2) we’re separate from the universe (there’s us and then, out there, all that other junk—dogs and swing sets and the state of Nebraska and low-hanging clouds and, you know, other people); and (3) we’re permanent (death is real, okay, sure—for you, but not for me.)
Now, we don’t really believe these things—intellectually, we know better—but we believe them viscerally, and live by them, and they cause us to prioritize our own needs over the needs of others, even though what we really want, in our hearts, is to be less selfish, more aware of what’s actually happening in the present moment, more open, and more loving. We know we want to be these things because from time to time we have been these things—and we liked it.”
Available at Cloud and Leaf Bookstore, Manzanita and Tillamook County Library
As always, discussion welcome at codger817@gmail.com