Elena Ferrante: ‘Even when dialogue imposes an ellipsis, I avoid it’

I stopped using ellipses when I became convinced that no discourse should ever be suspended

Some cautious notes on ellipses. They are pleasing. They’re like stepping stones, the sort that stick out of the water and are a risky pleasure to jump on when you want to cross a stream without getting wet. Today, especially in emails and texts, they have such power of suggestion that we distribute them by the handful. The canonical three dots are no longer enough; there are four, five, even six. “I’m here… I’m in anguish…. I wonder where you are….. I’m thinking of you…… I would like to see you again but…….”

They’re very communicative and indicate many things: anxiety, embarrassment, timidity, uncertainty, the mischief of saying and not saying, a moment when we were about to exaggerate and then let it go, or even just a pause.

Related: Elena Ferrante: ‘Writing while smoking was a deceptive pleasure’

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