Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high
Take a look, It's in a book
A Reading Rainbow
I can go anywhere
Friends to know, and ways to grow
A Reading Rainbow
I can be anything
Take a look, it's in a book
A Reading Rainbow
A Reading Rainbow
I suffer from literary breakups. I get into a novel, develop an emotional attachment to the characters, feel the highs and lows of their experiences, and then, “The End.” It literally takes me a few days to get over the separation.
I finished a book Wednesday evening. Last night, I reread the last two chapters, just to savor the happy ending one more time.
Like a series of short-lived relationships, what better way to get over the last book than to start a new one? It helps me move on with my life. I started a new one yesterday.
Gunter is somewhere shaking his head right now, repeating his take on fiction: “It’s not real.” “It never happened.” “They don’t exist.”
I know, I know. *sniff*
Maybe it’s the “highs” I’m addicted to. Same thing that draws other people to movies, video games and more destructive habits I won’t mention. I have no desire to escape my life by living out another’s, but I do love a good story.
Time also aids in the attachment. Reading is one of my favorite activities, but I hardly ever devote time to it. I might spend months reading the same novel, here and there when I have a spare minute or while I’m in a waiting room. So by the time I’m done, these characters and I have been together for quite a while.
Maybe it would be safer if I’d stick to non-fiction. Biographies are okay because they’re still stories. I’m not big on what I call “how-to” books. I know they can be used to improve our lives and open our spiritual minds. But I tend to be such a rule-follower (as if I must remember and act on every point), they’re just too much work! I read for leisure, not for labor.
Can anybody else relate to the pang of book breakups, or am I just
6 comments:
I know where you get it from....
Love,
Daddy
I can relate!! I am reading Karen Kingsbury right now, and I constantly have to remind myself that these people are not real! I'm almost finished with the second series... and it's only taken me about a month. I read fast and obsessively:) Mike says the same thing about fiction; he's never been a fiction fan. While I'm buring through Karen Kingsbury, he's reading tons of parenting books.
Oh my gosh... I know what you mean. I finished a book last night, and have literally thought, "I wonder what Laurel and Danny are doing now..." (the characters from the book.) YES, I know they're not real, but my mind wants to pick up where the book left off.
YES! I'm generally a quick reader and sometiems I have to force myself to slow down so that the story doesn't end so quick! And series... they are a love/hate relationship! They give you more to love but then when that last book comes it's hard to let them go. I find myself thinking, "I don't care of the next book would be boring, just write it so I can continue with them!"
So, yes, pangs away... I'm included.
guadalupe,
you know...one day, you know...you'll recognize and realize...you know...that you know...that those characters..you know...aren't real, you know.
We love yall!
Bro. Kev
Oh yes, I can definitely relate. Wayne loves to read, but not fiction. He says I'm wasting my time reading fiction when I could read something to learn...I'm a fiction girl...just like you. But I am very different from you in the fact that when I'm in a book, NOTHING else matters. Not food, not sleep, not going to the bathroom, not the husband or the children...I can't put it down! Karen Kingsbury's series on the Baxter Family which begins with the Redemption Series is WONDERFUL. I don't think I've ever been so attached to characters. If you haven't read them, you must now...Not only is it an amazing story, but Karen Kingsbury does an amazing job of revealing God through her writing. Thanks for your sweet comments on my blog...
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