The Lost Art of Letter Writing
“A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.” ― Emily Dickinson
I often wonder what it would’ve been like if I lived in a past age. I think I might have enjoyed it — long walks in the countryside, no entertainment but books and theatre and music and corresponding with people through letters. Yes, I suppose I would’ve rather enjoyed a life like that.
Writing a letter is one of the things I miss most about pre-texting times. Although I’m extremely grateful for technology and all its benefits, I do wish that we could have held on to some practices from the past.
The act of writing a letter is at once, beautiful and exclusive and intimate. In contrast, texting and to some extent, emailing feel detached and professional to me. The idea of sitting down at a desk, thinking about someone and putting it down on paper carries with it such leisure and quaintness that technological advancements like instant messaging simply do not possess. Starting a letter, I assume (and remember to a small degree) would begin a fair amount of time before the actual act of writing it. One had to make little mental notes as and when things happened to include them, then make time during a certain day to sit and pen it all down, pause and reflect to make sure nothing remains that needed to be said and then wait for days in anticipation of a response. Seems rather painful in these times when a second’s delay in receiving a response to a message leads to impatience and anxiety, doesn’t it. But, I often feel that waiting for things to happen patiently is an art in itself and what better than letter writing to practice both arts together.
“A letter is never ill-timed; it never interrupts. Instead it waits for us to find the opportune minute, the quiet moment to savor the message. There is an element of timelessness about letter writing” — Lois Wyse
One of my favourite things to do is reading letters written by great authors. I confess it feels rather like an invasion of privacy but also provides a lovely window into the private lives of my literary heroes. Some of my favourite things that my favourite authors wrote aren’t found in their published works at all.
“I have now attained the true art of letter-writing, which we are always told, is to express on paper exactly what one would say to the same person by word of mouth”. ― Jane Austen
If you’ve ever read the letters John Keats wrote to the woman he loved, his muse Fanny Brawne, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Even more than Keats’ poetry, his letters to Fanny are what make him truly great in my opinion.
“His letters are what letters ought to be: the fine things come in unexpectedly, neither introduced nor shown out, but between trifle and trifle.” — T.S. Eliot about John Keats
They’re truly the stuff of dreams.
The beauty of letters also lies in the fact that they reveal so much about both, the author and the recipient. Keats' letters shine a light on, not only his gift for writing but also show us a lot about Fanny. Similarly, Jane Austen’s letters to her sister Cassandra paint a truly vivid picture of life in the Georgian period. And not just that, our romantically challenged generation stands to learn a lot from the letters of writers past. Check out this quote from a letter Gustave Flaubert wrote to Louise Colet that could put modern day sexting to shame:
“I will cover you with love when next I see you, with caresses, with ecstasy.”
Or this one, by Franz Kafka to Milena Jesenska, who he met all of two times and to whom he wrote some hauntingly beautiful letters:
“Last night I dreamed about you. What happened in detail I can hardly remember, all I know is that we kept merging into one another. I was you, you were me.”
What makes Kafka’s letters so much more special is the fact that while he wrote his letters in German, Milena wrote back to him in Czech.
I truly wish that letter writing will make a comeback. Of all the trends that come back in time, this is the one about which I’d be happiest. I honestly believe I would be far more effective in my communication if I had to send handwritten notes to friends and family.
