Reading Readiness
Mar 12th 2010Claudia DainOn Writing!
J. D. Salinger died recently. J. D. Salinger, for those who don’t know, wrote The Catcher in The Rye. Most school kids are given the opportunity (talk about diplomatic speech–it’s assigned reading!) to read The Catcher in The Rye sometime during their education. It was assigned reading for me when I was in the 8th grade; I had just turned 13. I remember being shocked by it, confused by it, and depressed by it. Not great reactions when reading one of the Big Books of 20th Century American Literature.
When I read that Salinger had died at the ripe old age of 91, I decided to read Catcher again, just to honor his memory.
Was I in for a surprise.
This book is fantastic! No wonder everyone is “supposed” to read it. The voice is fresh, the POV is right on the money, and the story is heart-breaking, but in a good way. The main character, the only POV character, is a teen-aged boy in a prep school on the east coast. He’s in trouble. He’s a very sensitive, thoughtful boy and he’s seen some bad things that he can’t process and can’t make peace with. But he’s trying. He’s trying really, really hard. He loves his family devotedly. He’s soft-hearted, observant, and gentle. The story takes place over two or three days and we care desperately about this lost boy. The book ends on a hopeful note. We know that he’s going to be okay now, that Holden Caulfield is going to be fine.
My whole double experience of this book has made me ponder the question of timing when we read a book. Sometimes the timing is right–the book hits us the way it’s “supposed” to. Other times, we’re too young or too old, too happily married or too happily single, too healthy or too sick. For whatever reason, we’re not in the right place of readiness for that particular book. I think more attention should be paid to this when choosing a book to read, to being honest enough to admit that this might be a great book, but it’s not a great book for me right now.
Has my The Catcher in The Rye experience ever happened to you? Have you ever read a book twice and had a totally different experience with it each time? Have you ever read a book you were too young to appreciate?
Last December, I was browsing craigslist and came across an ad that made my heart swoon. It was for a Quaker parrot. Immediately I told everyone (with a link, natch) “this is what I want for Christmas!” Gil and I talked about it, we did research, and I emailed back and forth with the owner. We learned what to feed her, what sort of cage would be best, how much out-of-cage time she’d need a day, and how to keep her healthy.
My empty nest is no longer empty. Every morning I awake to “squawk!” which means “Mom, let me out!” Morning is Riley and mom time. She rubs against my face and hair, grooms me and chitters to me. I’m not sure what it means but I think she’s telling me all about her day. She walks across my desk stealing anything her beak can lift. She perches on my wrist while I type and gives herself a bath.
Her previous owner also assured us that she never ate people food. Ha Ha HA! The first time she was out of her cage while I ate, she landed on my plate and took a bite of my chicken. Yes, my little feathered baby is a cannibal. Her favorite foods are chicken, egg and pasta. She also has a thing for McDonald’s french fries. Now at dinner she gets her little bites and eats with us. She also loves cherry ice cream.
If a year ago someone had told me that a 4 inch bird would be ruling my house, I’d have laughed in their face. But now our days and home revolve around her. She and our cat, Precious, chase each other even though we scold them both. Sometimes, Riley crawls in bed with us, snuggles down and takes a nap. She gives kisses and she definitely gives love.
But when I went to Florida a few weeks ago, I found myself wishing I had a Kindle. I wanted to read 3 books on vacation, but to make sure I had 3 books to read, I needed to bring 5 or 6, just in case one, or more, didn’t work out. Several I really wanted to read I didn’t want to bring because they were trade or hardcover and where was I going to fit THOSE in my bag? A reading device would have solved this problem handily.
So last week I became a seller of ebooks with the launch of A Writers Work (www.awriterswork.com) a new e-book publisher owned and operated by multi-published authors. Right now three of my backlist titles (Mother of the Year, Dreams of an Eagle, When You Wish) are available there, with many more to follow as soon as I can get them ready.
Me at 16:”I’ll never shove a cookie in my kids’ faces just to shut them up.”
Luckily for me, I have four brothers and a wealth of male friends from which to draw upon when trying to decide what a man would really say and how a man would really react. I am also dating someone who is a walking icon of the male/female divide and therefore a constant source of entertainment.
They say “information is power.” Not sure who the “they” are, but “they” must be wise, right?
deluged with data, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not feeling any more powerful than I did before. In fact, I’m feeling a lot less powerful than before.
say so, and we know they are never wrong. So, living in your dust is:
