I recently wrote about deferring my innermost thoughts with words on a page, of immersing myself in books to give my brain a chance to put it’s own words into cohesive sentences. So far, four days into 2010 I’m doing a pretty good job of inhaling books as if they were the very air I need to survive. I find myself reaching for the spines of fantasy books — my favorite genre — despite the fact that towards the end of 2009 I found myself branching out and enjoying tales from other parts of the bookstore.
Last night I picked up my fourth post-Christmas book, and the Author’s Note caught my eye and then resonated deeply within the library of my heart. The book was The Snow Queen by Mercedes Lackey (perhaps my favorite author), a Tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms. Now, I know that the fantasy genre isn’t everyone’s cup of literary tea… and that knowledge is exactly why I’m not going to tell you to run out and buy this book (although it is a delightful series that puts a clever spin on the behind-the-scenes aspect of fairy tales, and it totally worth reading).
I’ve attempted before to explain why reading is so important to my mental health, why sometimes a book is the only medicine for what ails me. And here, on this single page at the start of my fourth dose of post-2009 medicine were the words I wasn’t able to string together on my own. So what I am going to do is share with you this note from my favorite author, with the hopes that it will resonate with you, too.
This has not been the best of years. It has not been the worst, either, but this year seems to have been fraught with things going wrong for everyone I know. Friends have lost family, lost jobs, lost health.
For me, this was the year of being nibbled to death by ducks. Every time we turned around, it seemed, something else went wrong. Illness seemed to haunt us. […] Soldiering on, the one thing I kept telling myself was that in all of this, I would get affirmations that people needed fantasy. When their lives were horrible, they always had a happily-ever-after to curl up with and make the world go away for a while. Heaven knows I certainly did. And I would hear that over and over from others […] they would tell me they read to get away.
Dorothy L. Sayers used to say that mystery stories were the only moral fiction of the modern world–because in a mystery, you were guaranteed to see that the bad got punished, the good got rewarded and in the end all was made right.
I’d like to think that fantasy does the same thing. It reminds us that this is how it should be, and maybe if we all put our minds to it a little more, this is how it will be. The good will be rewarded. The bad will be punished. Sins will be forgiven.
And they will live happily ever after.
“The library of my heart”. That’s a description I’m going to save to myself and treasure all the rest of my life. Beautiful.
Hello and welcome to OneWandering, “Uninvoked”! Thank you for your lovely comment; I am so happy to have composed a few words which managed to touch someone else, to become treasured.
I just followed the link to your site, and am excited to begin the exploration of your noveling blog! I think that is a wonderful premise for a blog, and I have a feeling that Uninvoked is going to be added to my Google reader very soon. 🙂
I found it interesting that in your Author’s Note you commented on the apparent drop in individuals reading books, despite the fact that with technology like Twitter and text messaging we read more than ever before. A recent Facebook status update from a friend from high school indicated that she was going to try to read 100 books in 2010. That’s over 8 books a month!
I’m not setting a goal for myself, but her post did raise my curiosity — how much do I read in a given year?! In order to answer that question, I’ve started a new page here at OneWandering called Paper Vacations. I’m going to keep a list of every book I read this year. It should be an interesting experiment…
Wow, thanks for the response! I’m honored that you took the time to investigate my story so thoroughly, and for the lovely critique you left. I plan to make corrections based on your comments in the next week or so.
I would like to follow you in your challenge. Since moving to my new home, I almost never read offline fiction. (Sad!) My books take up one shelf…on a DVD case. My boyfriend, who does not read, has more books than I do. Maybe it’s time for a change. I’m gonna find a good book tomorrow, and I’m gonna read it. ^^
Uninvoked — If you like a great story, but find it hard to get into someone’s new “world” — try Stephen Lawhead’s novel “Hood.” It’s more of a historical fiction — he did research and figured out that there was no way that Robin Hood could have been in Sherwood Forest at the timeframe that he was supposed to have existed; the forest was too cultivated, he couldn’t have hid his band of merry men! So Lawhead looked into it and decided to base Robin out of Wales. “Hood” is followed by “Scarlett” and “Tuck” — I read the first two and they’re (in my opinion) great stories. The nice part is, you don’t re-hash the same part of the same story, just from different points of view. “Scarlett” covers different ground than “Hood,” and I’m assuming “Tuck” will cover the last new bit of the story. I love that you immediately get excited about it, because you’re looking for the characters that you know and love (if only from the Disney movie) to be introduced!
Actually, I’m sorry to bother you but I wonder if you’d clarify one thing? I went back today to try and smooth ch. 6 and 7 better per your thoughts, and now I’m not quite sure what to do.
Chapter six ends with Schreber lighting a piece of Oleander and throwing it at her feet, Chapter seven begins with her coughing from the smoke. It seems pretty smooth to me, what is hanging you up? I need more words before I can fix it. >.<
I did figure out how to solve the whole "Where is Amy and this room" issue though. ^^ I'm going to add a quick description of the inn and be sure to mention the bedroll laying out by the bar. It should clear things up nicely. ^^
Thanks so much for your time. I know it's awfully rude to come bother you with more questions, but I get so few critiques I have to take advantage of the ones that come my way.
As a fellow lover of fantasy, I had a moment of instant connection with your post and the quote from Mercedes Lackey. It’s always nice to share with others, but particularly when words on a page or a screen make that sharing possible. I know it’s why I read and why I write; to forge those connections, to have those moments.
Cheers to you and all the best for 2010. 🙂
Meaghan — thank you so much for stopping by and for your comment! It’s always nice when my little blog ends up connecting me to other people who enjoy similar indulgences, like a great book. I’d love to hear what your top three favorite fantasy authors are, or to get a few book recommendations!
Cheers to you, as well! *clink*
I really struggle to pick a best ever or top five of anything. I try to think about what book, album or movie I’d be devastated never to experience again and end up with dozens of choices and no clear winner.
There is one book I would have to have with me if was being consigned to a deserted island; Barry Hughart’s ‘Bridge of Birds’. Simply one of the most charming books I’ve ever read and one I enjoy time and time again.
Of all the fantasy books I read in 2009, I really loved Kristin Cashore’s ‘Graceling’. Beautiful style, great story and characters.
Ohhh, thank you! I’ll put both of those on my must-read list for 2010!
Fantasy used to be my middle school/junior high escape genre. I think I gravitated there because with hormones raging like that it was impossible to put my own life in order. I needed the pages of my books to do that for me.
Although I’ve moved away from fantasy on a every day sort of book reading basis, I do see that the pull is still there for me. In college I took a Fantasy As Literature class and it was one of my favorite classes in college. I had never thought to dig deeper into fantasy to find issues of women’s rights buried within an alien world.
Who knew!
Although I no longer use fantasy as an escape genre, I most definitely use books. Even when I am reading non-fiction I still feel transported. And what better adventure is there than to live in another world? Even if it’s someone else’s reality?
Great post Jen.
Now, if you can suggest a fantasy book that will get me back in the swing of things I’ll be set.
Ash — hang on, I’m gonna email you…
Everyone else — Mercedes Lackey, Stephen Lawhead, Jacqueline Carey and Elizabeth Haydon are all names I scan on bookstore shelves for new releases. I also have enjoyed Irene Radford’s Dragon Nimbus novels. “Sunshine” by Robin McKinley is a must-read (vampire novel, but beautifully crafted — it made me want to read more of her books).
And lately my guilty pleasure has been Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series. They’re basically vampire/fantasy candy — light and entertaining, and differ greatly enough from the first two seasons of HBO’s True Blood that I will be able to enjoy both the books and the show without twitching from comparisons between the two. If you look to my sidebar *right now* you’ll see I recently finished off two of them (each took me about 5 hours to read cover-to-cover).
Non-fantasy?
“Alibi Man” by Tami Hoag (mystery/suspense)
“The Hearts of Horses” by Molly Gloss (historical/western fiction)
“We Took to the Woods” by Louise Dickinson Rich (biography/memoir)
“Merle’s Door” by Ted Kerasote (memoir about his dog; an emotional book to read)
The experience of reading a good book definitely facilitates a kind of catharsis that, I think, is unlike that of other creative mediums. A great film or particularly poignant instrumental musical arrangement might provide a similar effect, but I find that reading is decidedly different. More often than not, that emotional carry-over or release is just enough to “reboot” and dissipate the mental clutter. Although I don’t tend to read books in such rapid succession (FOUR since CHRISTMAS!?! My goal is eight by next January…), it seems to allow my imagination to flow more swiftly, the creative process to glide along more smoothly, and everything else to fall naturally into place.
LOL Yeah, I’ve been a little bit on reading overdrive lately, but with the temps so cold out and no TV, I can’t think of anything better to do than curl up in front of the fire with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate! 🙂
I’ve been doing a lot of reading myself lately, mostly for escape. Turning off the TV is pretty key for reading.
I’ve been reading sci-fi (Lois McMaster Bujold, who is masterful) but I do enjoy fantasy too. Mercedes Lackey was one of my favorites (I think I ODed on her for a bit — I deliberately cycle my reading now so I don’t OD).
🙂
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