"I heard a good snippet on NPR today... "
Don't you love how so many people like me, "NPR nerds," converse around that opener? One testament to age is hearing oneself talking, methinks.
It was an interview of Joe Wright, under whose direction the film Atonement was created.
Wright was talking about how he doesn't read quickly, a capacity that I share despite my love of a good book. But he said one of the things about that is that you live with the book a little longer; the characters, the time period, the themes - they inhabit your life in a more permanent way.
That's a bright side for me because a lot of the why in my reading is the ability to travel without moving or to get away from myself.
I'm currently reading Foreign Land and with it, the experience of being 60 years old looking back and forward in life. What really added to the story was that my father, who is also 60, stayed with us and inspired a lot of the sympathy and empathy - the emotional response I have to the story. I'm soon to finish but having a story live with me for a month is a welcome impact on thoughts and daily life.
I wonder, for instance, about Cornwall. I read so many Enid Blyton books that painted too idyllic of an English seaside - something which I can now see a little better with retirees, boredom, and open questions of meaning, purpose, and adjustment.
I'm also struck by the emotional range of the older protagonist (if one could call him that). I had thought, before this, of an older man more self assured, anxious for solace, and with it the requisite nostalgia,
This year I've got to live through some interesting books and I'm making it a goal to write reviews again. First Draft reviews that will hopefully sound like what they are: my attempt to hold onto the experience the book gave me and figure out if there's a larger meaning. I hope not to sound pedantic. I hope not to offend anyone, but in the last year I've realized that fear of offense is what makes the most silence. I've thought about big disclaimers or password protected entries - it may come to that but ultimately I will just write what's on my heart. Apologies in advance, but they will be for feelings, not for what I write.