The title of this post comes from Padgett Powell’s, “The Interrogative Mood.”
I love questions — and the more absurd and paradoxical a question could be, the more I enjoy it. And, this book is full of nothing but questions. The entire book is questions. No sentences.
Is there a narrative? Absolutely, yes. Questions invite an answer, and for someone to answer a question they must play it out in their heads before they speak — more often than not. And so, in a sense, you are the narrative.
“Could you lie down and take a rest on a sidewalk?” I imagine what would need to be true for me to want to do that. My hunch is that I might do that if I am sufficiently tired; or perhaps just to experience what it would be like. Perhaps people would look at me funny; but more funny than they might look at me now? Maybe not. The police might stop me. Perhaps they’re not accustomed to seeing people rest on the sidewalk in my neighborhood. It’s not something someone would do… but why?
Resistance is futile. How do you read a book that consists of nothing but questions without trying to answer at least one?
Some questions from the book that I might use at work:
“Do you have a headache?” — I ask a version of this in interviews.
“Why won’t the aliens step forth to help us?” — that could be an interesting discussion.
“If you could design the flag for a nation, what color or colors would predominate?”
“Should a tree be pruned?” — you know, I am very curious about that… what happens if you don’t? Who loses out? Does the tree even care?
Interestingly, as I’m writing this, I’m finding that my curiosity is elevating my mood. Perhaps this book, for me, is the right tonic for ending a busy day.
Why not try it out?