Making sense

Anne Lamott, on writing ...

"We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason why they write so little. But we do. We have so much we want to say and figure out.”

Friday, June 19, 2009

Finished another novel ...

Just turned to the last page of Elizabeth Berg's newest title, HOME SAFE. I absolutely love her down-home writing. Her style is casual and seemingly simple but really her message packs a wallop of understanding. She's one of those authors a reader wants to get to know. I imagine sitting down in a bookstore cafe sharing a slice of cheesecake with her. I would not have to be embarrassed licking my fork after enjoying the final bite ... .
In addition to being thankful for cheesecake and any sort of fancy pastry, really, I am enormously thankful for writers. Also, I am grateful for publishing agents, editors and houses.
I am starting to feel like books might be going away -- technology replacing the hardcover, the tangible pages. And every single time I hear someone bragging about the virtues of one of those hand-held Kindles or Tindles or whatever the heck they're called I start to feel bitter and a tad bit witchy. I do not want to hold a tiny computer screen in my hand when I sit down in my favorite chair with my favorite cup holding my favorite coffee. I want a bona fide book in my hands. I want to feel the weight of the tome sitting in my lap. I want to use the bookflap as a bookmark; I want to smell the pages; I want to break the spine and enjoy the soft craaacck, the newness of the book; I want to write my name in pretty script using a pretty pen upon a bookplate that I spent careful minutes choosing at Border's.
Stupid technology!

1 comment:

Bee said...

NO to Kindles! YES to beloved writers who seem like friends.