Falling for them

Published on March 31, 2006 By dharmagrl In Misc

I'm falling in love again.

With men who aren't my husband, with men who I've never even met and will never ever meet.

They have a way with words, these men. They know how to weave emotions into their words, emotions so strong that they can make me laugh out loud or move me to tears....these words have angered me with the injustice that they've told, they've repulsed me and sickened me....

....they have trapped and caught me, and now that they've got me I never want to leave.

Steinbeck. Joyce. Hemingway. Kerouac. These are my loves, my lovers. I covet their words, I want to own every word they've ever written and hide them on my bookshelves so that I can take them out and be enraptured by them whenever I want.

East Of Eden, The Grapes Of Wrath, Of Mice And Men, Travels With Charley. The Dharma Bums, On The Road. For Whom The Bell Tolls, The Sun Also Rises, Farewell To Arms. The Dubliners, Portrait, Ulysses.

I often wonder if these men knew how powerful their words were when they put them down on paper. I wonder if they knew how they would change the way people think, if they knew how they would stir emotions in the people that read their words.

I wonder if they knew how much they were loved, how much they would be loved....

....if they knew what they were doing when they wrote.

I think they knew. They MUST have known. Why else would they write?

Comments

Dr Guy

on Mar 31, 2006

Why else would they write?

Why do you write? Could be they get enjoyment out of it, and our enjoyment is secondary to their urge to express.

Locamama

on Mar 31, 2006

If you love Hemingway, you have to read Moveable Feast. I loved it. It's always interesting to get a peak into the writers lives and what the process or writing was for them.

There are a reason that these authors and books are classics. They really hold up over time. I haven't read Joyce yet or Kerouac. I will have to make another trip to the library. I have a tendency to only want to read and do nothing else when I get into a really good book. That can be a problem at times.

dharmagrl

on Mar 31, 2006

Could be they get enjoyment out of it, and our enjoyment is secondary to their urge to express

Exactly. They needed to express, and that just happened to give us joy.

If you love Hemingway, you have to read Moveable Feast

I'm going to the library this morning, I'll look for it then.

I haven't read Joyce yet or Kerouac.

When you start with Joyce, read Dubliners and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man before you try Ulysses. That's what I'm doing...someone told me that if I try Ulysses first I'll be put off Joyce for life and will miss out on a lot.

I have a tendency to only want to read and do nothing else when I get into a really good book. That can be a problem at times.

Oh yeah, me too! I have to make myself do chores before I read, or else I won't get anything done. If I have my nose in a book, Dave can talk to me and I won't hear him. I'm not ignoring him on purpose, I'm just caught up in what I'm reading.

Locamama

on Mar 31, 2006

Oh yeah, me too! I have to make myself do chores before I read, or else I won't get anything done.

That's me. I make deals with myself. After I finish this chapter, I will do the dishes. I have learned I had better do the dishes before I pick up the book.

I think I started to read Joyce before but it was just too intimidating to me. I don't remember which book it was though. I still have the book in my closet somewhere.

MasonM

on Mar 31, 2006

I understand completely. I am currently re-reading Macbeth.

crimson

on Mar 31, 2006

I am currently re-reading Macbeth.

I love that play. It's one of my favorites. That, and:

As You Like It
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
The Merchant of Venice
The Taming of the Shrew

Dharma: I think you should do a review/article on what you're reading. It'd be interesting, and might encourage others to join in. Some of the titles you've listed intially scare me off, but I'd love to see other people's opinions and thoughts on what they've read.

pseudosoldier

on Apr 01, 2006

I think you should do a review/article on what you're reading. It'd be interesting, and might encourage others to join in.

Wasn't there a book club on JU at some point?

Spc Nobody Special

on Apr 01, 2006

Wasn't there a book club on JU at some point?

Yes. Yes there was.

East Of Eden,

Some of my favorite writers. My favorite steibeck's still cannery row, and it's sequel. Try some John Irving while you're at it. Maybe A Prayer for Owen Meany.

dynamaso

on Apr 04, 2006

I think they knew. They MUST have known. Why else would they write?

I like to think the opposite. I like to think they wrote because they had something in them, a muse if you will, that propelled them to write. Being published and becoming popular were probably not considerations for their wanting to write. I can identify with this.

As a song writer who has had very little commercial success, I have had friends ask me why I continue to write songs. The only answer I can give is I have to. It is something in me that propels and continues to excite me. The discovery of a chord sequence, a melody line or a lyrical couplet is still a magical moment and each one is unique.

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