Wish I could have been sitting next to you at that book club! I would have accepted allll your nerdy literature terms WITH GLEE.
I also love that quote: the best writers truly do “inspire us to discover who we are and who we can become.” Yes, it’s a long and meandering journey. But it contains riches!
Sadly, I do not. I just like to collect their compound words as I find them in the wild. Some favorites are Kummerspeck (sorrow bacon), Stachelschwein (spikey pig = porcupine) and Nashorn (nose horn = rhinoceros).
I love your deference to the bookclub ladies. And your attitude about not being heard when you have something of value to contibute is admirable. It is hard to be silent when folks are discussing what you love.
The last line of your post reminds me of another Lewis quote, and it's my favorite "why read" kind of quote. It gives me chills and makes me want to throw my fist in the air and yell, "YES!" every time I read it:
"The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have invented. Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough. I regret that the brutes connot write books. Very gladly would I learn what face things present to a mouse or a bee; more gladly still would I perceive the olfactory world charged with all the information and emotion it carries for a dog. Literary experience heals the wound, without undermining the privilege, of individuality... in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad of eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do."
I read to give voice to things I don't have the words for but feel anyway. I read to experience things entirely outside my realm of experience and also things I resonate with in every fiber of my being.
I struggle with remembering what I've read, with the details of scenery and character. Discussion about books, then, is most often centered around how it made me feel or think rather than about the book itself. It's an awkward thing to love books as much as I do and not remember much about them beyond how they made me feel. One of the most awkward examples of this in my early years was giving an oral book report in school over a book I had read in its entirety multiple times and being unable to recall much about specific characters. I got a poor grade on that report. That hurt. I was embarrassed. It didn't stop me from reading, but it did make me very shy from that point on about discussing what I've read with others.
I will likely lurk around the edges of your Substack for a bit, reading books that are recommended, and thoroughly enjoying them. Perhaps, I might comment from time to time on how it made me feel. Perhaps that's enough.
I’d be very happy to hear what you have to say. Thanks for replying here! and some are going to be life-changing and some are…not. And that’s ok! I’ve read plenty of things that I only remember the feeling they gave me.
I am this way with certain books as well. If asked, I would put CS Lewis Till We Have Faces on my top 10 list. I have read it multiple times. I love it. I would, however, get very poor marks if asked to give a book report about it. It is a masterpiece of literature and I get lost in it every time I read it, but I cannot retell the details of it. It doesn't mean it's not a good book or that I'm not a good reader. That book just hits differently and that's OK.
I'm looking forward to reading your Substack. I learned some brand new things and found a couple new authors to explore. Can't wait to read more! Thank you!
Wish I could have been sitting next to you at that book club! I would have accepted allll your nerdy literature terms WITH GLEE.
I also love that quote: the best writers truly do “inspire us to discover who we are and who we can become.” Yes, it’s a long and meandering journey. But it contains riches!
Thanks for reading— I appreciate it so much!
Fancy German words are the best--just smoosh together some other words until you get the exact meaning you want!
I admire German for just that reason. So cool! Do you know German?
Sadly, I do not. I just like to collect their compound words as I find them in the wild. Some favorites are Kummerspeck (sorrow bacon), Stachelschwein (spikey pig = porcupine) and Nashorn (nose horn = rhinoceros).
I will fight tooth and nail against you accepting any “slide into irrelevance.” loved this so much, and I’m looking forward to more!
My initial response to the title question was, “How could I not?”
You are the best, Dolores!!!
I love your deference to the bookclub ladies. And your attitude about not being heard when you have something of value to contibute is admirable. It is hard to be silent when folks are discussing what you love.
The last line of your post reminds me of another Lewis quote, and it's my favorite "why read" kind of quote. It gives me chills and makes me want to throw my fist in the air and yell, "YES!" every time I read it:
"The man who is contented to be only himself, and therefore less a self, is in prison. My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have invented. Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough. I regret that the brutes connot write books. Very gladly would I learn what face things present to a mouse or a bee; more gladly still would I perceive the olfactory world charged with all the information and emotion it carries for a dog. Literary experience heals the wound, without undermining the privilege, of individuality... in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad of eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do."
Thanks for reading and for this quote!
I read to give voice to things I don't have the words for but feel anyway. I read to experience things entirely outside my realm of experience and also things I resonate with in every fiber of my being.
I struggle with remembering what I've read, with the details of scenery and character. Discussion about books, then, is most often centered around how it made me feel or think rather than about the book itself. It's an awkward thing to love books as much as I do and not remember much about them beyond how they made me feel. One of the most awkward examples of this in my early years was giving an oral book report in school over a book I had read in its entirety multiple times and being unable to recall much about specific characters. I got a poor grade on that report. That hurt. I was embarrassed. It didn't stop me from reading, but it did make me very shy from that point on about discussing what I've read with others.
I will likely lurk around the edges of your Substack for a bit, reading books that are recommended, and thoroughly enjoying them. Perhaps, I might comment from time to time on how it made me feel. Perhaps that's enough.
I’d be very happy to hear what you have to say. Thanks for replying here! and some are going to be life-changing and some are…not. And that’s ok! I’ve read plenty of things that I only remember the feeling they gave me.
Thank you for the kind response
I am this way with certain books as well. If asked, I would put CS Lewis Till We Have Faces on my top 10 list. I have read it multiple times. I love it. I would, however, get very poor marks if asked to give a book report about it. It is a masterpiece of literature and I get lost in it every time I read it, but I cannot retell the details of it. It doesn't mean it's not a good book or that I'm not a good reader. That book just hits differently and that's OK.
Till We Have Faces is my all time favorite Lewis novel and is a top 10 for me too. Maybe I should do that in my Read with Me session soon?
This exactly!
I'm looking forward to reading your Substack. I learned some brand new things and found a couple new authors to explore. Can't wait to read more! Thank you!
Thank you!!