My friend Jo said something that stayed with me. She, a great reader, said, that lately she’d been feeling lonely, but is oh so grateful for such an inner life.
Books give you that.
They keep you company wherever you happen to be. Whether you’re lost in a novel, in Paris with Hemingway, on the edge of your seat with Stephen King or loading a musket at Gettysburg, you’re never lonely when you have a book within reach.
Now we have Kindles and iPads weightless in our bags giving us no excuse not to read when given the time and privilege.
Imagine countries where there are no books amid masses of illiterate people who’ve never even seen one. We take our literacy for granted like many built-in graces we’re so accustomed to.
One of my favorite pastimes is to go to the children’s floor at my library to watch those little readers peruse their very own stacks.
Babar, Winnie the Pooh, Stuart Little, Cat in the Hat, Ferdinand the Bull, along with Olivia, Madeleine and Eloise come tumbling down, blanketing the floor with their first hardcover pals launching a habit that will benefit them their entire lives.
Remember reading Where The Wild Things Are for the first time… Cinderella, Peter Pan and Beauty and the Beast?
Boredom just doesn’t exist when there’s a story in progress.
When you’re in a long line, on the train, even stuck in traffic, a book in your lap or on tape will surely take one’s impatience away.
Like John Adams told his young son John Quincy,
“You’ll never be alone with a poet in your pocket.”
Hear Hear!
SB
I’m with you on the books. And I can do inner life with my music: there’s always a song playing in my head. Yet poetry never did it for me. I’m not sure why. You might think it logically sits between novels and music?
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I know you like to read. It’s such a grace.
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Just finishing “The Inheritance of Loss” Kiran Desai. Can’t remember what’s next on the pile.
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How impressive you have a pile. 🙂
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I have to credit my father for introducing us to reading . He would have us gathered around and he’d read and let us read poetry in the evening . Tennyson , Coleridge , and a huge compilation Best Loved American Poems . That and weekly trips to the library put us on the right path . I recall as a young boy being very fond of a series of books called We Were There – historical – The Alamo , The Chisholm Trail . Then It was Edgar Rice Burroughs , Jules Verne , Dickens . Reading has been a companion for many years . Strange though today I feel a little out of step when I’m reading a book on the train , you rarely see anyone with an actual book anymore , it’s usually the kindle . A side note like Mclively the music in my head never stops either , thanks dad for that as well !
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Wow. That’s some literary history you got goin there. I didn’t start reading till I was over 30 my parents, unlike yours, didn’t really read. An occasional Mickey Spillane for my dad and a racy paperback for my mother. Had lots of catching up to do.
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Susannah, I agree, reading is such a great doorway to hidden worlds or an escape from any problems. I inherited my love of reading from my mother.
My Pookie and I read each evening for an hour before turning off the lights. We might be the only people in the US that have never put a TV in our bedroom.
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I think that’s great you read together that way. So intimate. So cozy. 🙂
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Well you may have had a late start but I’d say you’ve way surpassed me in your literary intake . I did start the girls off young though , I’d take them to the library and they would take out a sack of books . Nancy Drew was a big hit esp. The Mystery of the 39 steps .
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I remember Nancy Drew. Just don’t recall reading her. So long ago. I do remember sneaking my mother’s copy of Valley of the Dolls reading it under the covers with a flashlight. Sigh
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My mother and father both read, so books were second nature to us. Started reading at five-years-old and haven’t stopped yet! ~Elle
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You were lucky.
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My iPad is my best friend, preceded by my Kindle Paperwhite now in its resting place in my end table. I know many people prefer the traditional print on paper, but I love my electronics because they are always with me, even in the dark (figuratively and literally).
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I love that you’re up at this hour too. I’d like an iPad. My pal Ed,a huge reader, swears by his. But electronically I’m over my head. Had to get a new Mac. Got an iPhone because I was told the sound would be better. Not much though. An iPad seems so frivolous at the moment, like buying a ball gown. There was a time Gail. 🙂
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Yep, I’m up. Best day to catch up on my reading. Have a good day, Cinderella.
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That’s funny. 🙂
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