{"id":154227,"date":"2021-08-24T13:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T17:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=154227"},"modified":"2021-08-24T13:52:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T17:52:27","slug":"redux-merely-a-mask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2021\/08\/24\/redux-merely-a-mask\/","title":{"rendered":"Redux: Merely a Mask"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every week, the editors of\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u00a0lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine\u2019s archive. You can have these unlocked pieces delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday by\u00a0signing up for the Redux newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Louise Erdrich.<\/p><\/div>\n

This week at The Paris Review<\/em>, we\u2019re thinking about masks, concealment, and hiding. Read on for Louise Erdrich\u2019s Art of Fiction interview<\/a>, Charles Baudelaire\u2019s poem \u201cThe Mask<\/a>,\u201d Donald Keene\u2019s essay<\/a> on Yukio Mishima\u2019s Confessions of a Mask<\/em>, and Flavia Gandolfo\u2019s photography portfolio \u201cMasks<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you enjoy these free interviews, stories, poems, and works of criticism, why not\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0The Paris Review<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The New York Review of Books<\/em>\u00a0and read both magazines\u2019 entire archives?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Louise Erdrich, The Art of Fiction No. 208<\/a>
\nIssue no. 195 (Winter 2010)<\/em><\/p>\n

I suppose one develops a number of personas and hides them away, then they pop up during writing. The exertion of control comes later. I take great pleasure in writing when I get a real voice going and I\u2019m able to follow the voice and the character. It\u2019s like being in a trance state.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo: Flavia Gandolfo.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Mask<\/a>
\nBy Charles Baudelaire, translated by Richard Howard
\nIssue no. 82 (Winter 1981)<\/em><\/p>\n

What blasphemy of art is this! Upon
\na body made to offer every bliss
\nappear \u2026 two heads! A monster? No\u2014<\/p>\n

one is merely a mask, a grinning cheat
\nthat smile, illumined with exquisite care.
\nLook there: contorted in her misery,
\nthe actual head, the woman\u2019s countenance
\nlost in the shadow of the lying mask \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo: Flavia Gandolfo.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mishima in 1958<\/a>
\nBy Donald Keene
\nIssue no. 134 (Spring 1995)<\/em><\/p>\n

We seem to have moved on then to a more general discussion of literature, though the notes are again unclear: \u201cI gained liberation through literature, though I never sought it. Proust is spiritual, but I am physiological. Literature enabled me to free myself from many complexes and from tension. I became interested in all aspects of human life and I shed my adherence to self. In this I think I am unlike most Western writers. I have come to think that I am not dissimilar to other people, though when I wrote Confessions of a Mask I thought I was \u2026\u2009\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo: Flavia Gandolfo.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Masks<\/a>
\nBy Flavia Gandolfo
\nIssue no. 133 (Winter 1994)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you enjoyed the above, don\u2019t forget to\u00a0subscribe<\/a>! In addition to four print issues per year, you\u2019ll also receive complete digital access to our sixty-eight years\u2019 worth of archives. Or,\u00a0choose our new summer bundle<\/a>\u00a0and purchase a year\u2019s worth of\u00a0<\/em>The Paris Review\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>The New York Review of Books\u00a0for $99 ($50 off the regular price!).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on Louise Erdrich\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a poem by Charles Baudelaire, an essay by Donald Keene, and a portfolio by Flavia Gandolfo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31006],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-redux"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRedux: Merely a Mask by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 24, 2021 \u2013 This week, we\u2019ve lowered the paywall on Louise Erdrich\u2019s Art of Fiction interview, a poem by Charles Baudelaire, an essay by Donald Keene, and a portfolio by Flavia Gandolfo.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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