The nature of bibliophilia.
I sometimes think that every bibliophile has one book that means absolute comfort and security to them. It's the book they re-read compulsively or according to some ritualized inner schedule, it's the book they quote even when it doesn't make any sense, it's the book that goes with them on important trips or when things are emotionally wearing. It's not necessarily the best book they've ever read, or the book that moved them the most, or even the book they'd recommend to other people, but it's their book, it's the right book, and that, at the end of the day, is what matters.
My book is IT, by Stephen King.
I first read IT when I was eleven years old, the same age as the members of the Loser's Club. I was enthralled. Parts of it didn't make sense yet, because I lacked the context they required; parts of it made heartbreaking, 'this author actually understands what it's like' sense. I toted the library's big ol' broken-spined hardcover around for over a week, devouring every word, and then I turned it around and started over from the beginning. And I cried both times.
Since then, I've re-read IT at least once a year, and often more frequently, depending on what was going on in my life at the time. The more stressful things became, the more often I turned to IT to get me through them. I've probably read this book somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty times; I've read multiple copies of the paperback edition to death, and I've started collecting copies of the 'correct' edition (I have a very specific print layout that I'm most attached to) against the date when it's so old the used bookstores can't sell it to me in that cover anymore.
Do I think it's a perfect book? Nope. It has a lot of flaws. Beyond the usual plotlines that seem sort of wasted, and the minor characters that get dispatched in that pre-occupied 'whoops forgot you were there honey' way, there are characters whose primary attributes are being 'the ________'. The Fat Boy. The Black Kid. The Girl. (Although, of those three, it's Bev who gets the short end of the stick.) But it doesn't matter, because in the end, IT is my book. That's where I go when I need to hear the voice of the Turtle, and trust that there's some Other who may take a long time to notice what's going on, but will, in the end, set the wheels in motion towards trying to set things right.
I love you, children. I love you so much, forever.
What's your book?
My book is IT, by Stephen King.
I first read IT when I was eleven years old, the same age as the members of the Loser's Club. I was enthralled. Parts of it didn't make sense yet, because I lacked the context they required; parts of it made heartbreaking, 'this author actually understands what it's like' sense. I toted the library's big ol' broken-spined hardcover around for over a week, devouring every word, and then I turned it around and started over from the beginning. And I cried both times.
Since then, I've re-read IT at least once a year, and often more frequently, depending on what was going on in my life at the time. The more stressful things became, the more often I turned to IT to get me through them. I've probably read this book somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty times; I've read multiple copies of the paperback edition to death, and I've started collecting copies of the 'correct' edition (I have a very specific print layout that I'm most attached to) against the date when it's so old the used bookstores can't sell it to me in that cover anymore.
Do I think it's a perfect book? Nope. It has a lot of flaws. Beyond the usual plotlines that seem sort of wasted, and the minor characters that get dispatched in that pre-occupied 'whoops forgot you were there honey' way, there are characters whose primary attributes are being 'the ________'. The Fat Boy. The Black Kid. The Girl. (Although, of those three, it's Bev who gets the short end of the stick.) But it doesn't matter, because in the end, IT is my book. That's where I go when I need to hear the voice of the Turtle, and trust that there's some Other who may take a long time to notice what's going on, but will, in the end, set the wheels in motion towards trying to set things right.
I love you, children. I love you so much, forever.
What's your book?