my three favorite authors are all dead now
Sep. 7th, 2007 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aryanhwyMadeleine L'Engle died yesterday.
When I moved off to college my freshman year, I knew I couldn't take all of my books with me, or even a tenth of my books. I settled on taking the important ones, by the important authors: I brought with me all the books by J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, and Madeleine L'Engle. These are books I can read over and over and over again (not only can, but did). Slowly all my books migrated down to Madison with me, but they were always the ones I went to when I needed something to take my mind of other things.
When we prepared to move over here, I knew I couldn't take all of my books with me, or even a hundredth of my books. There was no question the Tolkein, Lewis, and L'Engle were all coming. Since moving here, I've reread all of her books that I owned at least once, some more than once. Each time I finished one, I'd think, "I know she's getting old, but I hope that there will be one more book, just one more book before she dies". And now I find out that I will not get that one more book, and that's crushing. There are so many stories that she told that are unfinished and will always be unfinished.
If I was asked what my favorite book was, I think I would actually have to say that it is the Two-Part Invention. I don't remember now if I first read it before or after I was married, but it's a book that I would like to give to all of my married friends, or all of my friends thinking of marriage. It displays in words the priorities about marriage that my parents displayed in action, and sometimes I do find words easier to internalize than actions. Whenever I read that book, I think, "I hope I can say the same things someday".
If I had to pick my favorite out of her fiction, I think it would be The Other Side of the Sun. It brings to life a part of my country's history that I otherwise find utterly foreign. But I pick that as my favorite, and I think, "but what about A Severed Wasp, or The Arm of the Starfish, or Certain Women, or A Ring of Endless Night, or the beautifully and masterfully written Love Letters?" They're all my favorites, and always will be.
When I moved off to college my freshman year, I knew I couldn't take all of my books with me, or even a tenth of my books. I settled on taking the important ones, by the important authors: I brought with me all the books by J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, and Madeleine L'Engle. These are books I can read over and over and over again (not only can, but did). Slowly all my books migrated down to Madison with me, but they were always the ones I went to when I needed something to take my mind of other things.
When we prepared to move over here, I knew I couldn't take all of my books with me, or even a hundredth of my books. There was no question the Tolkein, Lewis, and L'Engle were all coming. Since moving here, I've reread all of her books that I owned at least once, some more than once. Each time I finished one, I'd think, "I know she's getting old, but I hope that there will be one more book, just one more book before she dies". And now I find out that I will not get that one more book, and that's crushing. There are so many stories that she told that are unfinished and will always be unfinished.
If I was asked what my favorite book was, I think I would actually have to say that it is the Two-Part Invention. I don't remember now if I first read it before or after I was married, but it's a book that I would like to give to all of my married friends, or all of my friends thinking of marriage. It displays in words the priorities about marriage that my parents displayed in action, and sometimes I do find words easier to internalize than actions. Whenever I read that book, I think, "I hope I can say the same things someday".
If I had to pick my favorite out of her fiction, I think it would be The Other Side of the Sun. It brings to life a part of my country's history that I otherwise find utterly foreign. But I pick that as my favorite, and I think, "but what about A Severed Wasp, or The Arm of the Starfish, or Certain Women, or A Ring of Endless Night, or the beautifully and masterfully written Love Letters?" They're all my favorites, and always will be.
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Date: 2007-09-08 03:48 am (UTC)