Creative Landslide

I’m not ashamed to admit jumping on the vampire bandwagon.  I read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and stay up to date on the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.  Even though I enjoy the stories in each series I noticed a drastic difference in the qualities attributed to the vampires.  Let’s set aside the fact that Harris writes for more mature audiences.  I want to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the vampires. 

When writing about supernatural creatures authors have to make a decision.  Will they keep to conventional rules or will they create their own?  Meyer chooses to wipe the slate almost clean and rebuild what people know about vampires.  She doesn’t follow previous conventions about turning to dust in the sunlight or being invisible in pictures.  At first this bothered me when I read her series, but I became swept up in the story.  My mood changed when reading Harris’ series because her vampires are more conventional.  They are not around at all in the daylight hours.  They have multiple weaknesses. 

I read the two series back to back and I will admit not liking the Sookie books at first.  After coming off my Twilight high with indestructible vampires who are around to protect you all the time, Harris seemed disappointing.  It took almost a year for me to return to Sookie, but once I did the series was consumed within ten days.

What was the draw?  Besides being well-written, Harris creates life-threatening situations that occur during the daytime.  This poses a problem since the vampires, mainly Eric, will be sleeping—leaving Sookie to fend for herself or receive help from other supernatural characters who are not limited by daylight. 

At least for me, it was exciting to see how Sookie was going to save herself.  She couldn’t rely on Eric or Bill to always be around, even though it does seem like Bill is always lurking.  Obviously both series are fantasy, but Harris’ take is more realistic, if that word can even be applied in fantasy fiction.  She recognizes that sometimes Sookie not only needs to solve her own problems, but she can also help the vampires in dangerous situations. 

The Twilight series portrays humans as fragile, worthless creatures.  Bella is a prime example.  Humanity wasn’t attractive when the Cullen family was the alternative.

I love both series and enjoy the characters.  However, I choose Eric over Edward.  There is more humanity in limitations and weaknesses.  It’s comforting, and still leaves the outcome to be unpredictable.   

(There will probably be more on this topic later.  I must admit, it fascinates me.)

I haven’t posted anything because I’m in a reading funk.  There are too many books being read at the same time.  All seem promising, but none of them have grabbed me and held on.  I want a book that shakes me up and gives me reading fever.

I’ve experienced a reading funk before.  The only way out of it, at least for me, is to find a saving book.  A novel, play, short story, just something that makes me want to read more than anything.  At the moment, the half-read stack beside my bed is overwhelming. 

Each night I find myself in a different story, never finishing anything.  It feels a bit like a series of one night stands.  There is nothing meaningful going on with my reading.  I want more.  I want a relationship.

Originally, I thought the solution could be found by having a relationship with one author. So I bought and checked out some books by one author, and although they are good, they are not what I’m looking for.  I want a relationship with an individual book.  When the last page is turned I want to miss the characters.  The writing should be so good it makes me feel like I can write.  The bottom line is inspiration.  I haven’t stayed up all night reading in a long time.  I miss it.

What is the next book I need to read?  Which characters will drag me out of my funk and restore my reading health?  I don’t know, but I will continue looking.

Sometimes there are characters we can’t forget.  T.S. Garp is one of those characters.  Last November I read The World According to Garp by John Irving.  Since then not only have I purchased the majority of his books, but I’ve also spent a lot of time thinking about Jenny Fields, Helen, talented bears, and Walt with “the undertoad.” 

Even last night as I began a new book with promising characters I wanted Garp. 

We all have favorite characters we miss or even characters we just can’t shake loose no matter how hard we try.  Recently, I read Brenda Novak’s Stillwater series and I’m still feeling creeped out by Joe.  He was just one of those guys you’re thankful you don’t know in real life.  Or maybe some of you do. 

It’s funny how certain emotions will bring back a character.  When I was in high school I read The End of the Affair by Graham Greene.  Now, years later, every time I feel sad I think of Bendrix and one specific line in the book when he’s missing Sarah.

Even vacancy was crowded with her.

That quote always gets to me. 

Now I must do what every reader inevitably does– read the next book.  I will meet new characters, fall in love with them, fear them, hate them, but I will always miss Garp.  He was special.

After devouring Hornby’s, The Polysyllabic Spree, I decided to try his fiction.  I chose How To Be Good. You might be wondering why I didn’t choose High Fidelity or About a Boy.  I will tell you why.  I’ve seen the movies.  The books are probably better and add much more to the characters than the movies, but I wanted a clean palate when I approached Hornby’s fiction.  I wanted the unexpected. 

I have to say that even with only about thirty pages left in the book I still don’t know what’s going to happen.  This book has been thoroughly enjoyable and worth every minute I’ve spent reading.  There’s nothing worse than a book that makes you feel like you’re wasting your time.

While reading I started thinking about a certain kind of book.  The kind that starts out a little behind where you think it should be, but it takes you with it on the journey.  The kind of books that only get better with each chapter. 

This may sound off the wall, but in the beginning of How To Be Good, I felt like I was walking through a cave.  It was difficult to know where I was headed and I really was kind of uncomfortable as I moved through it.  Then as the characters began to evolve I felt my surrounding cave start to morph, allowing for more light.  I know this sounds strange, but now, towards the end of the novel I’m on the other side of the cave relaxing in a sunlit meadow. 

Does that make me sound corny?  Pretentious?  I don’t intend to be either.  I’m trying to describe something we may all experience while reading.  Surely you’ve encountered a book that gets better with each unfolding scene.  Too many times I’ve never left the cave or made it to the meadow only to discover another cave in front of me.  What a defeated feeling.

 I can only hope Hornby allows me to enjoy the meadow through to the last page.

Saturday night I attended the premiere of a documentary on Hurricane Audrey.  The documentary, All Over But To Cry, was produced by Jennifer John Block and Jake Springfield. Block and Springfield allowed survivors to share their stories of that terrible night in 1957 when Hurricane Audrey killed at least 500 people and devastated Cameron Parish. 

The documentary was thought-provoking, emotional, and reminded me of a book I need to return to.  The book is called Isaac’s Storm, written by Erik Larson.  It is about the hurricane of 1900 that destroyed Galveston, Texas.  Larson is well-known for Devil in the White City, his book about the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.  It was after reading the latter that I decided I must read all of his books.  However, it didn’t take me very long to set aside Isaac’s Storm because of all the scientific language.  I have to admit, I felt very intimidated.  After having time away from the narrative I think I’ve decided to give it another go.  The documentary changed my reading mood, pointing me back to something I probably should’ve finished.

Once I decided to return to Isaac’s Storm, I began to wonder what other books I’ve abandoned.  I look on my bookshelves and see index cards, envelopes, and post-it notes popping out of various books.  They remind me of all the half-read stories.  Why did I choose those books to stop reading?  Was it poor writing?  Uninteresting characters?  Or did I become a lazy reader?  There are many reasons, but I must remind myself of why I bought each book.  Obviously something caught my attention. 

Thanks to the documentary I received an unexpected yet necessary nudge back towards my own bookshelves.