readingredhead (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
readingredhead) wrote2008-08-29 11:29 am
readingredhead) wrote2008-08-29 11:29 am
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Literary high, part deux
Ohmigod so I just finished the best book written in the English language (see previous post for more unnecessary squeeing). And seriously, Julie has outdone herself here. The end of the book had me crying because I was so happy. Now, I cry a lot for books, especially good ones. In fact, my current favorite book of all time, The Wizard's Dilemma, has earned that distinction at least in part because of its consistent ability to bring me to tears. But those are oh-my-god-the-main-character's-mother-is-dying-and-there's-nothing-she-can-do-about-it tears. Very different from nothing-could-possibly-be-so-joyful, true-love-requited, heart-so-full-to-bursting tears. The former are cathartic, it's true, but I am just now learning that the latter are absolutely delicious. It's like the feel of being so in love with someone that you can't help but shed tears of amazement and glory and wonder that the world has chosen to present you with something so perfect as this.
My friends aren't the only ones who remind me that true love exists. I get those reminders from fiction, especially Julie's fiction, on a regular basis. But there's nothing quite like the first read through a marvelous story. It is its own kind of first love--the intensity, the drama, the potential for deep heartache, the unfathomable reward awaiting those who triumph.
I am so brimming with words and with smiles, with unself-conscious giggles that escape me at the strangest moments, with an overflowing gratitude for the existence of love in this universe. I need to do, to be, to create. I need to sing a new song and dance like I actually know how (or like I don't know how and don't care). I need to spin around under the stars and absorb the wonder of the universe.
And, most of all, I need to write. Because if writing can do all of this, can there be any calling higher?
My friends aren't the only ones who remind me that true love exists. I get those reminders from fiction, especially Julie's fiction, on a regular basis. But there's nothing quite like the first read through a marvelous story. It is its own kind of first love--the intensity, the drama, the potential for deep heartache, the unfathomable reward awaiting those who triumph.
I am so brimming with words and with smiles, with unself-conscious giggles that escape me at the strangest moments, with an overflowing gratitude for the existence of love in this universe. I need to do, to be, to create. I need to sing a new song and dance like I actually know how (or like I don't know how and don't care). I need to spin around under the stars and absorb the wonder of the universe.
And, most of all, I need to write. Because if writing can do all of this, can there be any calling higher?
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This is only tangentially related, but please tell me you've read Whitman? His "Song of Myself" is all about singing and dancing and spinning under the sun and wondering at the universe (the connection is being made here because I just had to read some of his poetry for my English class, and it made my head spin in a thoroughly familiar and breathtaking way, and I needed to share it with you).
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By the way, what dost thou think of spoken word poetry?
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I haven't been around enough spoken word poetry to know what I think about it. I have admiration for anyone who can make it work, but as for creating any myself? I don't know if I'd like the way it feels to make something impermanent. I know that's the beauty of it--the improvisation--but I'd be sitting there with a tape recorder, in case I said something meaningful (so that I wouldn't forget it), and then since I was trying to be meaningful it would make things much harder. Probably I need to practice with it (in a completely tape recorder-less environment), even if only to remove myself from my comfort zone.
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