In the past two-and-a-half years, I have written four of these, spelling out the reasons that I fell for four books:
When did you last fall in love with a book?
Z.Z. Packer’s Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (2003)
Michael Crummey’s Galore (2009)
Hiromi Goto’s Half World (2009)
and Sarah Waters — the impetus was The Little Stranger, but I spelled it out more generally.
It’s not quite the same as a favourite book, although each of these would have been numbered among the year’s favourites when December came around.
Nor is it quite the same as loving a book, which can exist with a good dose of admiration alongside (say, with Michael Ondaatje’s The Cat’s Table or Suzette Mayr’s Monoceros).
When I Spell It Out, I have to take a breath.
I have to try to pull my reader’s heart aside for a serious talk.
Because really what I want to do is G – U – S – H, but simultaneously I want to prove to my mother (or anyone who might cast glances at my romantic life) that this is not some quick fling.
I started this book on May 17th of this year, and I admit that, on May 17th, I was gushing, just 75 pages into the work.
I was still gushing when I finished it (reluctantly, but having spun it out as long as I could) on June 5th.
Part of me is still gushing. But the other part is going to Spell It Out.
All the reasons why I am so smitten, so impressed, so overwhelmed.
As soon as I’ve had that serious bookish talk with myself…
“Because really what I want to do is G – U – S – H, but simultaneously I want to prove to my mother (or anyone who might cast glances at my romantic life) that this is not some quick fling.”
YES! So well described. And it always seems like these books are the hardest to talk about because how can you really put ALL YOUR FEELINGS for this book into words?
It’s hard to find a balance, isn’t it? Because you want all the emotion there, but the rational part of you knows that it won’t be the perfect book for all readers, so somehow you have to articulate what you think is perfect about it, so that those other readers, who can fall in love with it too, will see there’s a match to be made for them.
LOL! It is so hard to find a book to love – I seem to be having a series of quick flings! I’m still in love with A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry and The Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. I think my relationship with them will last a lifetime 🙂
Nobody said relationships were easy, right? I need to rekindle my romance with A Fine Balance. I think I’ve started to take it for granted.
I fell in love with a book last week (The River Warren by Kent Meyers). I know when I really like a book when I picture the paper I would write if I were reading it in a college class. With this one, I also wanted to map the structure of the book. And as soon as I turned the last page, I started reading it all over again. I am glad you are enjoying your book.
Oh, I haven’t heard of him: his latest sounds very interesting too! I love what you’ve said about wanting to map it: that appeals to me tremendously. I’ll see if I can find anything of his locally. Thanks for the recommendation!