This is definitely the year for firsts, as in, "Hey, this is the first time I have ever worn a protective mask to the grocery store," or "Gee, I have never gone 2 months without hugging someone."
Or, "Gosh, I sure am hearing a lot of people use the words 'absurd' and 'unprecendented' in the same sentence, and they keep repeating the same sentence over and over."
On the subject of firsts, I will add a personal feat: for the first time in my life, I have read a series of books (15 in total), and then immediately reread them. Actually, I just finished rereading the 13th book this morning, and helped answer the question that I had been contemplating since I started over with the first book last month.
Why would I do that?
Sure, I love to read, always have. My parents would sometimes have to beg me to stop reading and go outside and play. I always loved going to the library, and it might have been because of me that my local public library put a limit on the number of books that one could check-out at a time.
True, I am also a fast reader. I am not talking Evelyn Wood speed, but the phrase "zip through" definitely comes to mind.
Since I grew up in a family of readers, avid reading seemed normal to me. Therefore, I was always a little surprised to meet someone who did not read with the same enthusiasm. As I have grown through the years, I have the fortune of befriending a broad spectrum of people, some of which are equally passionate readers, while others are closer to the "nope, only gonna read as little as possible" end of the scale. And all of that is just fine.
I do, of course, recognize when it is appropriate to discuss books, or authors, or the pleasures of reading, and I accept that not everyone is going to have such an interest. (I'll skip right on to the next point, since I have already touched on my feelings about book clubs in a recent post).
As much as I read, I sometimes struggle for new material, much the way many people are frustrated that during the present climate, there is nothing new on Hulu or Netflix or whatever. I am actually having a little problem with that, too, but that's for another post.
Meanwhile, over the years I have identified with several books that are what I call "keepers," The books are so great that they have to be held on to; one day they will need to be reread.
The Hardy Boys series comes to mind, as do all the Ian Rankin and Henning Mankell novels. And the Harry Potter books, I certainly can't leave those out.
Excluding the Hardy Boys (though no offense is intended), those other authors created such a lasting impression that I went out of my way to gather the collections, even though I had limited space in my apartment at the time. Then, years later, I moved to Europe, and what did I do?
I bought the collections again, so now I have two sets. The books are that important to me, and yes, I have reread them all through the years. Sometimes more than once.
Several of my fellow reader friends have always shied away from rereading a book, usually saying something like, "I read that already."
Fair point, but what's the difference between rereading a book, or watching a movie again, or a rerun of a television show? Or listening to a great song (She Sells Sanctuary), come to that?
For starters (I almost wrote firsts), I think it has to do with attention span and mindset. Listening to music comes easy, and -enter your favorite song here- gets played repeatedly on your stereo. Okay, maybe you don't listen with the same frequency as you might have done while in college, but normally you went a long time before eventually thinking, "Yep, this song is overplayed."
And even then, you had no problem hearing the song again a couple of days or weeks later. And years later, you'd pull the album back out for yet another listen.
Although I am watching a bit more TV than I would normally want to, I will kind of dismiss TV programming from this discussion, particularly sitcoms and long running dramas. Of course, I rewatched 7 complete series of the Andy Griffith Show last summer, and I also own the complete DVD collections of things like Inspector Morse, Life on Mars, and a few others.
Movies are a little easier to talk about. We all know someone who has watched Star Wars several thousand times, and for those folks that grew up in the 80s, just about everbody has a copy of the Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And, everyone has their seasonal favorites, especially at Christmas.
It never escaped me that some of my friends who made the comment about rereading books were the same ones that made sure to watch a movie 50 times.
The answer is very simple. We love these songs, these movies, and even the shows. And we want to repeat the experience of how we felt when listening and viewing. (re-read my last post if you need a reminder.
This makes perfect sense to me. I love to re-experience these things, too.
But why reread an entire detective series immediately after finishing it?
Because it is so incredibly great. And even though the experience is equally strong, it is not identical to the first time.
This particular series is written by a Candadian woman who is about 10 years older than me. Her personal story is pretty compelling, and she seems like a really really nice person. But one who possesses an incredible ability to enrapture the reader with her character development, plot lines, and thought-provoking style. She subtly includes some pop culture references with such nonchalance that you almost miss it. More than once in the series, I have actually burst out laughing at a particular sentence or quip or incident.
As a series of crime stories, her works are right up there with many of the greats, and to be specific, are on par with Agatha Christie.
But, what I think sets this author apart is her ability to develop characters so intimately that you feel like you know them. All of them.
The author, herself, describes the setting, the location, the characters as a "state of mind."
For me, she brings such a distinctive voice. It's almost overwhelming.
When I was in college, one of my professors invited me to her office for a meeting to discuss one of my papers about a poet we were studying. During our session, the professor indicated, with great curiousity, that she was surprised that my own voice was coming through my writing, ironically about the author's work and writing style. The professor went on to say that it was very unusual (unique, perhaps) for someone like me to have such a voice at such a young age. I initially took offense at her remarks, as I gathered that she was just dismissing me as one of those students who would go back to his dorm room and listen to an album by the Cult, then write a blog post about one of the songs 30 years later.
But I realized she was right.
And it left an impression.
As a result, when I encounter literary works where all the stars align and I find myself totally engaged, I tend to want to hold on. And relive the experience. It won't be the same as the first time, but that's precisely what I look for.
My sister gave me the 14th book of the series at Christmas, and after reading it, I immediately bought the first 13 books, then purchased the 15th book (which wasn't available until a couple of months ago). I zipped through the first 13 books during the first part of this year, managed to get the 15th book, and as I finished it, knew I needed to go back to the beginning, just to see how the new experience would be.
Sure, I know how the books end, but I don't know what is going to happen.
I am missing my mother today, but am also celebrating her life, as I am with my sister and grandmother, and all the other mothers out there.
keep the faith
bryan
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