I just read a wonderful series of ruminations by bibliodeviancy in London...and everything he said in it highlighted sections of my soul. I've long known that I'm a book person, though not quite a bibliophile. I love books. Period. As much as I love movies...well, some movies.
But I shifted away from reading as I got deeper and deeper into writing. I mean, I still read non-fiction works, but not so much in the way of fiction. And that's the wrong way to go if you want to tell stories. That's going to change. And if I can't find modern authors I like, I'll go back to the classics. There are a huge number of them I haven't read or read so long ago, I seriously doubt I truly understood them.
I've also long thought books are revolutionary weapons, since by reading people become informed and better recognize just how manipulative their governments and religions can be. He puts it together much better than I could have, even with his questionable grammar.
I've provided the link to the blog, above. I know Adrian Harrington, whose bookstore hosts it, but I doubt it was written by him. The whole feeling is much younger and more current. Scroll down to part 1 of "The Best Lack All Conviction" and read through...and tell these final paragraphs at the end of part 3 don't resonate through you.
"(Books) don’t care if you are rich or poor, black, white, mixed race, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, gay, straight, undecided, indiscriminate or just plain content. They have no interest in the size or shape of your body, your lack of working limbs, life expectancy, family life, prejudices, bigotry, misconceptions, triumphs or regrets. They will offer up what they contain regardless of whether you are happy, miserable, sick, healthy, ecstatic or desperate.
In the thousands of years that we have been gaining, accumulating, transmitting and sharing our knowledge through them, they have always been there for us. They give what they have unconditionally and without judgement. When the people you trust can no longer be trusted, when the ones you love become your enemies, when the ground underfoot is shaky and the sky above looks dark and forbidding there will always be a book with an answer in it somewhere. Even when a book contains something you reject, when it contains information you despise the very fact of its existence has taught you something. You have the choice to take an opposing stance, to decide on the best course of action for you. The book has given you the tools to make your decisions, to stay or to go, to fight or to run, to change or to remain the same.
The trick is that you have to read them. If you don’t, they can’t help."
"(Books) don’t care if you are rich or poor, black, white, mixed race, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, gay, straight, undecided, indiscriminate or just plain content. They have no interest in the size or shape of your body, your lack of working limbs, life expectancy, family life, prejudices, bigotry, misconceptions, triumphs or regrets. They will offer up what they contain regardless of whether you are happy, miserable, sick, healthy, ecstatic or desperate.
In the thousands of years that we have been gaining, accumulating, transmitting and sharing our knowledge through them, they have always been there for us. They give what they have unconditionally and without judgement. When the people you trust can no longer be trusted, when the ones you love become your enemies, when the ground underfoot is shaky and the sky above looks dark and forbidding there will always be a book with an answer in it somewhere. Even when a book contains something you reject, when it contains information you despise the very fact of its existence has taught you something. You have the choice to take an opposing stance, to decide on the best course of action for you. The book has given you the tools to make your decisions, to stay or to go, to fight or to run, to change or to remain the same.
The trick is that you have to read them. If you don’t, they can’t help."
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