Is this verbal violence, then, simply incompetence? Is it the verbal equivalent of someone who has not learned the piano sitting down and trying to play Rachmaninov’s Third? The rudeness of these public figures gives pleasure and relief, it is clear, to their audiences. Perhaps what they experience is not the possibility of actual violence but a sort of intellectual unbuttoning, a freedom from the constraint of language. Perhaps they have lived lives in which they have been continually outplayed in the field of articulation, but of this new skill – rudeness – they find that they are the masters.
~ Rachel Cusk, from “On Rudeness” in Coventry (Farrar, Straus and Giroux. September 16, 2019)
Notes:
- Book Review of Rachel Cusk’s new book Coventry via The New York Times: “Rachel Cusk Said She Was Done With Autobiography. These Essays Suggest Otherwise.”
- Portrait of Rachel Cusk (May 2018) via The New Yorker
Live & Learn 
What an interesting perspective. Sadly, it rings true….
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Yep.
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she is so spot on
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She is.
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Bam
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In. Deed.
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…have to add, I find that being among many types of people, there are many other ways in which people are rude, or enjoy being rude, or are not remotely aware that they’re being rude, or think that “the truth” when spoken (if it disagrees with the listener’s “truth”) is rude. Interesting topic…
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Yes. Agree Valerie.
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Saddly this is so true
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Unfortunately, yes….
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Very intriguing – must try and read her books
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She’s great. Have read everything she has written.
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