To Exit Laughing
The Body, Brain, and Books: Eleven Questions with writer and Head of Writer Relations at Substack Sophia Efthimiatou
Welcome to another edition of The Body, Brain, & Books. If you enjoy reading these quick, insightful interviews brimming with wisdom and hope, please subscribe to Beyond.
What are you reading now?
A Year of Last Things by Michael Ondaatje
Dominion by Tom Holland
and I just started A Passage to India by E. M. Forster.
What are your most beloved books from your youth? Did you ever hide any from your parents?
I do not remember me being a big reader as a child in Athens, though there wasn’t much else to do with my free time then either. I had a book of Russian fairytales that were strange and terrible and I loved them as much as I feared them. I loved everything by Penelope Delta, especially her dog tale Mangas. The first time I found myself completely lost in a book series was with Enid Blyton’s St. Clare’s, and after that with her Famous Five. Then my older brother introduced me to Tom Robbins in my very early teens and I went on a binge on his books. I also vaguely remember enjoying reading the encyclopedia. I would select a volume at random, open it to a random page, and start reading. I did not have to hide books from my parents, nor did they hide any from me. I pulled a collector’s edition of Apollinaire’s Les Onze Mille Verges out of my father’s library when I was eleven or twelve and was shocked and fascinated by it.
What’s your favorite book to reread? Any that helped you through a dark time?
I have this notion that I am not old enough yet to be a re-reader of novels and will prioritize discovering something new instead. I suspect that at some point I may decide I should devote any time left to revisiting my favorites. For now I mostly reread poetry--or I should say poems--as well as Chekhov’s letters and short stories, and selections from ancient Greek literature and philosophy. I don’t know that he has helped me through a tough time, he probably has, but I can’t be too down if I am in Chekhov’s company. Homer I’ve reread the most.
What’s an article of clothing that makes you feel most like you?
Any one of my kimono robes. I spend the greater part of my day in them.
What’s the best piece of wisdom you've encountered recently?
I am just back from a vacation in Greece. One day I sat next to a group of three female relatives at a beach in the Peloponnese. The youngest had more grey hair on her head than the oldest. The latter said to me, “She was born old, I was born young.” I loved it mainly because I can’t decide which is best.
Tell me about any special relationship you’ve had with an animal, domestic or wild?
I have quick, passionate love affairs with dogs I meet on the street every day. I don’t even ask permission from their owners to pet them anymore. Our eyes meet, Puccini starts playing in our heads, they wag their tails, I praise them and give them scratches, and sometimes I get that loving tender look of recognition from them that makes me go, “At least they get it!”
What's one thing you are happy worked out differently than you expected?
I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up but I have greatly enjoyed all the things I have been so far.
Singing in the shower or dancing in the kitchen? Or another favorite way your body expresses itself?
I am not much of a singer, but I aspire to be more of a silly dancer. I have a friend, Andreas, who will break into dancing no matter where we are or what time of day it is. He reminds me of that scene in Reality Bites, when they start dancing in a gas station to My Sharona.
A few years ago, visiting New York from Paris, Andreas got appendicitis and had to have emergency surgery while here. He was ordered to walk around the hospital floor several times a day after the operation and on one of those rounds he spotted this little stairwell on wheels and he immediately said, “Oh, we simply must dance on it.” It is wonderful to have friends who will dance for dancing’s sake, it reminds you what it’s all about.
What are your hopes for yourself?
To exit laughing.
What’s a kindness that changed your life?
I am lucky to have experienced extraordinary kindness through my close female friendships and cannot imagine my life without it. It is the purest form of generosity that I have encountered. It has saved me many times over.
What’s a guiding force in your life?
I try to remind myself that I know nothing. But I probably don’t do it as often as I should.
If you enjoyed Sophia’s questionnaire, you might also enjoy this one with Sarah Fay:
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This was fun to read. Sophia seems one of the kindest folk at Substack, so it's nice to read even more evidence for it. Also, as a fellow nothing-knower, bravo. I usually like people who admit that publicly. (Like a certain long-dead Greek chap: "I neither know nor think I know".)
Wonderful. I felt totally seen with her answer to #7: "I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up but I have greatly enjoyed all the things I have been so far." Lately, I have been reflecting on just this. Never knew what I wanted to be, and still don't, but it's been a great ride!