I love stories. And I hate when people overuse words like “love” when love is really a stronger word than what they mean to say. I mean it. I love stories.
I remember growing up and having my mom and dad and grandparents read me stories. My favorites were Uncle Remus stories of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear. Brer Rabbit and the tar baby is still a classic. I think my dad and mom probably read it to me hundreds of times and even as I’ve grown I have replayed that story in my head a thousand times more.
I remember in second grade reading class, our teacher read a chapter or so a day aloud from the book Charlotte’s Web. I was captivated. Those few minutes of the day became more important to me than even recess. The day she read about Charlotte’s death I tried to contain the emotion because I was a boy and not supposed to be emotional. I couldn’t get the story out of my head. I thought about it on the bus ride home and during dinner with my family.
I am a reader and I am almost always reading at least one book. Sometimes I read a couple of books at a time. There was a period of time in the not so distant past where most of the books I read were about ideas rather than stories. There were stories in them but mostly they were there to support the idea rather than stand on their own.
Lately I have gotten back to reading books that are pure story and it has been in some cases like going back to my childhood. Right now I am in the last pages of Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys. In the book he alludes to the Uncle Remus stories and I have been transported back onto my dad’s lap listening to him read of a stubborn rabbit sinking his fist into a tar shaped kid that refuses to answer his questions.
Stories are important. Not just for entertainment’s sake. Stories change me. I have never set down a book after having read the last page or walked away from a movie theater where there has been a good story and it not affected me in a way that made me different. Stories shape the way I think and thinking motivates my actions. Sometimes that is good and sometimes maybe not.
I think some of the stories people read or watch or even experience affects them in a way that causes them to somehow live less of a life than they ever hoped for. But some stories are good enough to inspire us to write better stories (and sing better songs) for ourselves.
It makes me wonder what story I should be reading (or watching) next.
People take on the shapes of the songs and the stories that surround them, especially if they don’t have their own song. … People respond to the stories. They tell them themselves. The stories spread and as people tell them, the stories change the tellers.
- the character Anansi from Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
The following quote is just because:
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
- Dr. Seuss via Scott Williams’ Blog
I remember growing up and having my mom and dad and grandparents read me stories. My favorites were Uncle Remus stories of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear. Brer Rabbit and the tar baby is still a classic. I think my dad and mom probably read it to me hundreds of times and even as I’ve grown I have replayed that story in my head a thousand times more.
I remember in second grade reading class, our teacher read a chapter or so a day aloud from the book Charlotte’s Web. I was captivated. Those few minutes of the day became more important to me than even recess. The day she read about Charlotte’s death I tried to contain the emotion because I was a boy and not supposed to be emotional. I couldn’t get the story out of my head. I thought about it on the bus ride home and during dinner with my family.
I am a reader and I am almost always reading at least one book. Sometimes I read a couple of books at a time. There was a period of time in the not so distant past where most of the books I read were about ideas rather than stories. There were stories in them but mostly they were there to support the idea rather than stand on their own.
Lately I have gotten back to reading books that are pure story and it has been in some cases like going back to my childhood. Right now I am in the last pages of Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys. In the book he alludes to the Uncle Remus stories and I have been transported back onto my dad’s lap listening to him read of a stubborn rabbit sinking his fist into a tar shaped kid that refuses to answer his questions.Stories are important. Not just for entertainment’s sake. Stories change me. I have never set down a book after having read the last page or walked away from a movie theater where there has been a good story and it not affected me in a way that made me different. Stories shape the way I think and thinking motivates my actions. Sometimes that is good and sometimes maybe not.
I think some of the stories people read or watch or even experience affects them in a way that causes them to somehow live less of a life than they ever hoped for. But some stories are good enough to inspire us to write better stories (and sing better songs) for ourselves.
It makes me wonder what story I should be reading (or watching) next.
People take on the shapes of the songs and the stories that surround them, especially if they don’t have their own song. … People respond to the stories. They tell them themselves. The stories spread and as people tell them, the stories change the tellers.
- the character Anansi from Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
The following quote is just because:
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
- Dr. Seuss via Scott Williams’ Blog
2 comments:
I've probably already mentioned this, but Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors, and you should definitely check out more of his work. My personal favorites are Neverwhere and Stardust. Stardust the book was so much better than Stardust the movie. I know it's cliched to say it, but it's true.
I don't know about your house, but here, we get so busy we forget to read together.
This morning Boo, the 2 year old, wanted to read. So we did. Book after book after book. I miss those days and this post helps me to renew my commitment to read to the kids again. A few minutes each day. Just long enough to make a few memories...
Thanks Tommy!
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