Drifting in the cemeteries
Michel Serres’ book Statues has a wonderful essay entitled ‘Drifting in the cemeteries’. Here is a short extract recounting visits to Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec.
In large cities made infernal by the motors and the crowds, only cemeteries give peace, silence, and a space where one can prepare one’s thoughts. I went there seeking calm and work. Generally, I arrived in Canada during the harshest time of the cold season, and the snow had transformed the vast necropolis into an immaculate park, tranquil and soft, the way in Paris, sometimes, severe winters transformed the gardens into solitary cemeteries, black and white.
Michel Serres ‘Drifting in the Cemeteries’ in Statues: the second book of foundations (2015 [1987]) translation Randolph Burks.
Peter
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[…] “… the snow had transformed the vast necropolis into an immaculate park, tranquil and soft, the way in Paris, sometimes, severe winters transformed the gardens into solitary cemeteries, black and white.” — Michel Serres, in his book Statues: The Second Book of Foundations (1987), quoted by Peter Johnson, Drifting in the Cemeteries […]