Literary Immersion

I used to be an avid reader.  I loved it when a story grabbed me and held me spellbound in its grip.  A good story held me with its magic, and I devoured its words with earnest.  When I was into a good book I never wanted to put it down, and I'd be completely immersed in it until I finished the very last sentence.  I lived a book while I was reading it.  Many a night I was caught by annoyed parents and admonished for reading late into the night with the help of a flashlight.  When I would close the book I was reading for the final time it was usually with a sigh of completion and disappointment both.  Finishing a good book was bittersweet.

A good story held my interest throughout the day--even when I was not reading.  It's not that it consumes all my thoughts, but I do find myself thinking about events from the story at various times during the day.  I might find myself daydreaming at school or any number of places, re-living the story in my mind.  I would analyze pieces of it--pondering questions of why, how, or if.  I would find myself marveling at the events that took place in the story, and would find myself equally entranced with the author's imagination.  I would sometimes belittle myself for not being able to conjure up such artful works of literary achievement as the authors did, and yet at the same time would thank them for what they had shown me.  Many times I followed a completed story by learning about the author and what kind of a person he or she was.  I think that's where I also got my love for biographies.

Like I said, when I've finished a book I find it hard to let it go from my mind.  Movies do that to me too.  Sometimes a good, creative,  thought-provoking movie will keep me pondering its story line for a week or longer after I have seen it.  Sometimes when I wake at night I find it hard to return to sleep if my mind has switched on and is reliving events from a movie I watched before going to bed.  It's not just any movie either.  I only get that reaction from movies that are creative--whether by the visuals or the story itself.  Because I apparently lack the creative gene, I love to have my mind "switched on" by someone creative.

What got me thinking about this topic?  I dunno... I was just wondering to myself the other day if we humans are the only creatures on our planet that actually wonder about things.  Are we the only creatures that have the capacity to dream?  To wish?  To re-live past events?  To assume so would be a bold assumption to make in my opinion, given the staggering variety of life there is around us.  We like to think that we are superior, and in most ways (that we can comprehend) we are.  I dunno--I just wonder about stuff sometimes.

I've found myself reading again these days.  Maybe I've been rediscovering a lost friend.  Maybe it's because it's so easy.  I can carry lots of books with me on my iPad and read any time I want.  Maybe its because I dumped my time-wasting Facebook account and have more time to think and do things within my own life.  More time to blog is one thing that has definitely become apparent.  Or maybe it's just more of a desire to blog.