"Emotions, in my experience, aren't covered by single words. I don't
believe in "sadness," "joy," or "regret." Maybe the best proof that the
language is patriarchal is that it oversimplifies feeling. I'd like to
have at my disposal complicated hybrid emotions, Germanic train-car
constructions like, say, "the happiness that attends disaster." Or: "the
disappointment of sleeping with one's fantasy." I'd like to show how
"intimations of mortality brought on by aging family members" connects
with "the hatred of mirrors that begins in middle age." I'd like to have
a word for "the sadness inspired by failing restaurants" as well as for
"the excitement of getting a room with a minibar." I've never had the
right words to describe my life, and now that I've entered my story, I
need them more than ever. "
Jeffrey Eugenides
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