Stories that Haunt Us
There are a few stories that stay with us. I think, for the most part, we read books, we enjoy books, we're entertained by books, but the stories and the characters don't stay with us for very long. I'm a re-reader. If I weren't I'd go broke, but I like to go back to stories and worlds for visits. I'll look over the shelf and decide, "I think I'll go to Pern right now," or "I feel like early twentieth century Egypt," or "futuristic police procedural." For the most part, that's how I pick a book from the shelf. There are a couple of stories, though that stick around, linger in our heads even when we aren't thinking about reading them.
The story that's been stuck with me for the last year or so is The Hunger Games. Truly haunting. I try and tell myself it's because the movie's going to be coming out in the next month or so, but I know in my heart of hearts that's not the case. It stays with me because for me, it's one of those books that stays with you, that in some way speaks to you. I don't know what it says about me that Suzanne Collins' brutal post-apocalyptic world speaks so clearly to me, but it does. I was driving to work this morning, the radio blasting to combat the cold, gray day and suddenly the Nickelback song I was listening to reminded me of her world. And boom! I was there again. It's snuck up on me like that a couple of times.
Every once in a while you come across a book that just sings to you. No matter the subject, the characters, the world it all just clicks. It speaks to something deep within you and draws your mind back to that world again and again. It's happened to me before. When I was younger I fell into Pern for years. I suppose the fact that I resonate with this dark, cold futuristic world tells me that I'm in a different place in my life now. The fact that it resonates with so many others in the world too, tells me that it's a phenomenally well written book.
If you haven't read it yet . . . you need to.
The story that's been stuck with me for the last year or so is The Hunger Games. Truly haunting. I try and tell myself it's because the movie's going to be coming out in the next month or so, but I know in my heart of hearts that's not the case. It stays with me because for me, it's one of those books that stays with you, that in some way speaks to you. I don't know what it says about me that Suzanne Collins' brutal post-apocalyptic world speaks so clearly to me, but it does. I was driving to work this morning, the radio blasting to combat the cold, gray day and suddenly the Nickelback song I was listening to reminded me of her world. And boom! I was there again. It's snuck up on me like that a couple of times.
Every once in a while you come across a book that just sings to you. No matter the subject, the characters, the world it all just clicks. It speaks to something deep within you and draws your mind back to that world again and again. It's happened to me before. When I was younger I fell into Pern for years. I suppose the fact that I resonate with this dark, cold futuristic world tells me that I'm in a different place in my life now. The fact that it resonates with so many others in the world too, tells me that it's a phenomenally well written book.
If you haven't read it yet . . . you need to.
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