Life brings changes. But some things remain the same. Most people are kind. They are willing to offer a helping hand to those in need.
No matter the age, culture, or gender - we all have stories to share.
This column is about books plus some rambling thoughts.
I don’t remember learning to read but do recall the epiphany of suddenly understanding the magic of the written word. I could disappear into a whole new world by submerging myself in a book.
There were news magazines and library books in our house long before there was television. My parents did not buy a television until the late 1950s. The blackand- white TV, a cabinet model, dominated our living room.
Readers of this column know that I often include writers’ quotes.
Here are three: “No book is really worth reading at age ten which is not equally - and often far more - worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond,” British author C.S.
Lewis, 1898-1963. Two American writers accurately reflect my thoughts about the rewards of re-reading certain books and my attitude about film adaptations.
“If a book told you something when you were fifteen, it will tell it to you again when you are fifty, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you’re reading a whole new book,” Ursula K. Le Guin who lived in California and Oregon, 1919-2018.
“Books and movies are like apples and oranges. They are both fruit, but taste completely different,” Stephen King who lives in Maine, 1947.
I am writing about a few of the books that have influenced my life this month. Some I read as a teenager. Others I discovered later in life. Each altered my perspectives of human interactions.
I read Brave New World as a teenager and read it ten years later when I enrolled in an English Literature class, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Decades later this 1932 novel by Aldous Huxley still haunts me. I see this scenario playing out in the modern world. Huxley was born in Godalming, Surrey, England. The novel was adapted twice as television movies, 1980 and 1998.
I read The Gift of Fear a few years after its 1997 publication. It validated why some situations make me uneasy and reinforces the effect of first impressions. Author Gavin de Becker offers insights on intuition, which alerts the brain to potentially threatening situations. Human communication involves body language, 55 percent; tone of voice, 38 percent, and actual spoken words, seven percent. Genuine fear is a response to clear and identifiable danger. There are no film adaptations of this self-help book.
Grapes of Wrath, a 1939 novel by John Steinbeck, resonates with today’s readers. It depicts the Great Depression that was precipitated by the New York Stock Exchange crash in October 1929. Steinbeck recounts the life of sharecroppers who head West seeking a better life. The Joad family were part of more than 2.5 million people who migrated from Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma during the 1930s. The worldwide Great Depression ended with the onset of WWII. This book was adapted as a movie, 1940.
Author George Orwell’s novel, 1984, describes life in a totalitarian society that implements mass surveillance and repressive regimentation to control individual behaviors. This premise reverberates with U.S. residents in the 21st century. I read it for a high school English class and again ten years later. Orwell is the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair who was born in Motihari, Bengal Presidency, British India. The book was published in 1949 and adapted as a movie, 1984.
Canadian Margaret Atwood wrote The Hand Maid’s Tale, which was published in 1985. Recent events (the worldwide pandemic, working from home, and media commentary) prompted me to read this novel in 2021. It was adapted as a movie, 1990, and as a TV show, 2017 to the present.
In Edward Abbey’s Monkey Wrench Gang four people, who are considered social misfits by mainstream society, dedicate themselves to halting the systematic destruction of the American West. The 1975 book has yet to be adapted to film. I read this and shortly afterward read The Milagro Beanfield War. Both highlight the natural beauty of the Southwest and how life on the land influences rural residents.
The Milagro Beanfield War, 1974, by John Nichols illustrates how the greed for water threatens small-time farmers whose families have tilled the land for generations. It was adapted as a movie, 1988.
A Widow For One Year by John Irving was published in 1998. The storyline follows the protagonist from age four until she is widowed at age 41. The storyline is divided into three parts, each focused on a critical time in the main character’s life. The first third of the novel, “The Door in the Floor,” was adapted as a film, 2004.
Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favorite American authors. Three of her novels changed my attitude about human interactions.
● We Were the Mulvaneys, published in 1996, traces the lives of a rural family obsessed with social status until tragedy destroys their seemingly perfect family. It was adapted as a television film, 2002.
● Blonde, published in 2000, is a fictional account about the life of movie star Marilyn Monroe. The book was adapted as a film, 2022.
● The Gravedigger’s Daughter, a 2007 novel, explores the impact of childhood abuse on the development of a woman's identity. It was adapted as a film, 2017.
These are a few of the books that explore the rich cultural heritage of the world in which we live.