Where Reasons End

by Yiyun Li

Is that how any person loses any person, by not understanding the treachery of words, or worse, by thinking one can conquer that with precision?

Why write, he said, if you can feel? What do you mean? I always imagine writing is for people who don’t want to feel or don’t know how to. And reading? I asked. Nikolai was a good reader. For those who do.

When you don’t have an expert command of adjectives, you don’t know how you feel.

Words fall short, yes, but sometimes their shadows can reach the unspeakable.