How can beauty be painful?
Beauty is mysterious and painful to behold and can come from the obscure and unexpected, such as the hand of a homeless person or the smile of a pig or a short story by a friend. Regarding writing, as I think about it, I'm never looking for beauty in writing, but when I see it, I am astonished and somewhat stricken. I think of Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich or The Pearl by John Steinbeck or The Color Purple by Alice Walker. The beauty is unexpected and deeply affective, making one a bit queasy and uncomfortable. The first reaction to beauty is surprise. The second is awe. The third is a desire to run away and hide. After thirty or so pages into Love Medicine, I felt sick and put the book away, unable to fully embrace the stories, seeing them as emeralds or rubies I did not deserve. But, as with great art, I will return one day, soon I hope, and begin reading again, this time forewarned. The grandest example of beauty that I know of, aside from writing, is the perfection and j...