"Books are magical": I agree
I am a firm believer in Henry Miller鈥檚 statement that books are magical: you don鈥檛 need to search for them; they鈥檒l find you.聽 I can think of countless times when this occult, literary magnetism rocked my world.聽
Like the time I was working on a ranch in Texas, having just been kicked by a horse and trying to erase the frightening scene from my mind, when 鈥� lo and behold 鈥撀� there on the ranch manager鈥檚 desk lay a paperback edition of "The Secret Life of Plants." Calmed me right down.
Or the time I vacationed on the Florida panhandle only to be depressed by the over-development I witnessed along the Gulf Coast.聽 Describing the 鈥渃artoon sprawlscape鈥� to my oldest pal Mothball upon my return, he promptly loaned me his copy of James Kuntsler鈥檚 "Home from Nowhere."聽 Lifted me right up out of the doldrums.
Or the time I had completely lost my appetite from all the talk about raw foods, Frakenfoods, and vegetarianism. Then from out of the wild blue yonder came Joseph Mitchell鈥檚 essay 鈥淎ll You Can Hold For Five Bucks鈥� slapped down in front of me like a sizzling three-inch porterhouse, loaded with butter and salt, and piled high with French fries. That got my juices flowing again.
This same literary magnetism works in reverse, too.聽 How many of those books force-fed to us during our early education left either no impression on us whatsoever. (Think: 鈥淲a-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa,鈥� like a parent talking in a Charlie Brown comic strip), or, worse, repulsed us to the point of physical aversion?聽 For example, I was obliged to read F. Scott Fitzgerald鈥檚 "Tender Is The Night," Flaubert鈥檚 "Sentimental Education," and Freud鈥檚 鈥淚nterpretation of Dreams鈥� at some point during my undergraduate and graduate careers.
Remember Milk of Magnesia?聽 Well, you get my point.聽 But when those books initially forgotten and/or rejected come back around a second time鈥� Now that鈥檚 Magic.
At 19 how could I possibly appreciate the subtleties of a Fitzgerald line like 鈥淩osemary was a romantic and her career had not provided many satisfactory opportunities on that score.聽 Her mother, with the idea of a career for Rosemary, would not tolerate any such spurious substitutes as the excitations available on all sides, and indeed Rosemary was already beyond that 鈥� she was In the movies but not at all At them鈥�?
Or at 21 how could I be moved by a Flaubert description as magnificent as, 鈥淎t the final chord of the waltz, Mademoiselle Vatnaz appeared.聽 She had an Algerian kerchief on her head, lots of piastres on her forehead, and kohl round her eyes; she was dressed in a sort of black cashmere coat over a pale skirt spangled with silver; and in her hand she was carrying a tambourine.鈥�
Or even at 25, how could I be impressed by the genius of a Freudian interpretation like, 鈥� 鈥榃ood,鈥� generally speaking, seems, in accordance with its linguistic relations, to represent feminine matter (Materie).聽 The name of the island Madeira means 鈥渨ood鈥� in Portuguese.聽 Since 鈥渂ed and board鈥� (mensa et thorus) constitute marriage, in dreams the latter is often substituted for the former, and as far as practicable the sexual representation-complex is transposed to the eating-complex.鈥�
Books are indeed magic 鈥� they鈥檒l take your breath away and give it back to you, too.
Richard Horan is an award-winning author who lives and writes in Central New York.聽 His forthcoming novel, "SEEDS: One Man's Journey to Find America鈥檚 Literary Trees," is due out in 2010.
