Bibliophilia

Last month, as I spent many countless hours in quiet contemplation while working on my swans, I went to some strange and surprising places in my mind.  I'm talking about twenty year old conversations that I wish had gone differently, and lots of other stuff that I apparently haven't been quiet enough to think about in quite some years.  One of the less shocking thought threads that went through my mind was on the subject of books.

As long as I can remember I have loved books.  I love reading beautifully written language.  I love the visual and tactile experience of holding an exquisite book in my hands.  The question that came up for me was, "what book or books has had the biggest impact on my life?"  I don't know the answer.

I've thought through the zillions of books I've read over the past half century.  Many memorable books come to mind, the ones I've read again and again, the ones whose language, story, or lessons have stuck with me.  As a child I loved to read horse books; I read Misty of Chincoteague until the pages were falling out.  As an adult, I still dream of someday going to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands to see the ponies.

There was another book that I read over and over, that for the life of me I can't remember the name.  This book was recommended to me by a librarian (I spent a lot of time at the public library!) and it made me laugh until I cried.  I'm so curious to know, if I read it today, would I laugh?  It's about a woman who love violets.  Everything she owns has violets on it: her dress, her couch, her wallpaper.  But that's not what the story is about; she and her kids go on an adventure, on an old man's boat I think, to find some missing person, her husband perhaps.  Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Around junior high or so, I was introduced to Charles Dickens.  I loved David Copperfield and Great Expectations, and have read them over and over as well.  I connected with certain themes in the stories, but can I say they changed my life?  No.

As an adult I've read many wonderful books by both famous and unknown authors, classics and pulp fiction.  Right now the only book that comes to mind as having had a major impact on me is The Artist's Way.  I learned a lot from doing the exercises in that book, and will continue to do my "morning pages" the rest of my life because they help me function day to day.  Can I say The Artist's Way was the most life changing book I've read?  I think I have trouble saying that because I believe I'm supposed to be all erudite and say it was Virginia Woolf or Flannery O'Connor.

So at the end of all this musing, I ask you: What book or books have had the biggest impact on your life?  On what elements do you base this choice?  I'm curious to hear your responses, and hopefully find some new books to add to my to-read list.  In the meantime I'm going to study my bookshelf and see if any other important books pop out at me.

Hope you have a wonderful, sun-filled, and happy weekend!  See you on Monday!