do you apply most things you read to your own life? (brian, i know you don't read.. you can skip this, or insert "watch" and "movie" for "read" and "books")
i do. maybe this is good, and helps me process information/plots, and also my own feelings/happening, and maybe it's bad, and keeps me from delving into other characters instead of "losing myself on books" which is i think the point of some books. and movies.
anyway. i just finished reading the poisonwood bible and it made me think of sam a lot. first of all, it criticizes religion a lot, which obviously sam was down with. secondly, the loss of a character and the reaction of others (no i'm not giving anything away- it's mentioned pretty early on) was remarkably similar in many ways to my experience with sam's death. mostly the part where they have to tell another character about it. granted, it was in africa. and the person did not die in nearly the same way. but still. i think death and the reactions to it are pretty universal. they differ in manifestation but not really in the basics.
i know this is vague, but i think everyone should read the book and i don't want to give it away. and i know it's sad, but i have come to the conclusion that i should be less afraid to make people feel sad when i talk about it because i effing need to talk about it. anyway, i kind of had to get that out, because i finished the book and had to go directly to class and take a quiz so it wasn't really enough processing time.
thanks.
4 comments:
I can totally agree with this. I don't always do it, but I often do. Especially lately I look at things different than I probably would've a year ago when I'm reading them. Not always for the better - I tend to drift into rather fatalistic thoughts. I think it's a pretty natural impulse anyway, but particularly as one is trying to deal with loss.
I've wanted to read The Poisonwood Bible for awhile, I've just not gotten around to it. I need to go crazy with the pleasure reading this winter break.
a. i'm really glad you're *talking* about it. do it.
b. that's a re-readable book. off the top of my head, i can't name a work of fiction i enjoyed more.
or a more fascinating character than adah.
I have been wanting to read that for years, and I almost bought it the other day. I need to make a stop at Half-Price Bookstore and pick up a copy. I have been relating to everything on a much more personal level in the last sixish months as well. Life seems to be much more complex to me now, and I am seeing that reflected even more clearly in literature than I saw before.
Jo, it is so good that you're talking about it. Speaking for myself, I have learned a lot about other people in my life and how they feel about death because of their reactions to conversations about Sam. It has been rough, but I too felt that I had to talk about it. I wish we could have a discussion about everything someday soon.
i apply what i read to my own life because it helps me process. a lot of what i read is about mental disorders, life problems/issues and therapy and treatment. i usually use myself or people i have met to create real-life examples.
i'm going to put poisonwood bible on my list of books.
and i agree that you (and myself) need to get over making ppl sad when we need to talk about stuff. life isn't always happy...we can't be walking little candy canes for fear that we might upset someone. fuck em.
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