“A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity.”

“A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity. The verdict on it lies in this nature of its origin: there is no other.” Rainer Maria Rilke in his first letter to Franz Xaver Kappus, compiled in Letters to a Young Poet. I need to pick up The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge again, I remember really enjoying it but left the pocket edition in the UK. Apparently there was a new translation of it in 2022, worth checking out. Maybe also worth reading Le Guin’s “The Fisherwoman’s Daughter” in parallel as a counterpoint to the sneaky “artist as mystic, troubled lone wolf” vibe. See also “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens” by Alice Walker (yet to read). A mourning dove has been sunning itself on our window AC unit for about two hours now, eyes half open. They used to coo outside my brother’s window on foggy mornings.