Wednesday, September 22, 2010

COMFORT READS


I think almost anyone who reads has books he or she returns to, whether to be reminded of the pleasure the first reading gave, or to see what new insight can be gained, or to try to learn how and why the book is so great. (As a writer, I use that third reason more than most, I suspect.)

I wish I could say I read and re-read Dickens, or Shakespeare, or Plato, or even Bill Buckley. While I have read all of them, I don’t go running back to them again and again -- except “A Christmas Carol” of course. The author I most often return to is Donald E. Westlake. He wrote hilarious crime capers. He died not long ago, while on vacation after finishing his latest (what a lovely way to go!) -- his last -- Dortmunder novel. I find them extraordinarily well-written of course.

I think most people who have a knack they indulge for writing will find, after a while, that no matter what great reviews a certain book has received, they, themselves, find it unreadable. And they may find themselves admiring an author who remains adamantly obscure. This is for the same reason: the authors’ skill, or lack of it, as wordsmiths. Westlake was a brilliant wordsmith, and was not at all obscure. His inventive stories were wonderful; he had a prodigious ability to lead his protagonists into wildly improbable situations, step by logical, inexorable, inevitable step. I rarely laugh out loud when reading alone, but I was rolling on the floor reading Westlake. I liked him so much I bought him in hardcover. My favorite of his Dortmunder series was Drowned Hopes.

Another favorite author is Terry Pratchett. When I heard he was diagnosed with Alzheimers, I immediately began a methodical reading of all his works that I own, in the order published. That took quite a while, he has a long list of titles. He, too, writes comic capers, but set in a fantasy world. It’s a flat world, resting on the backs of four staggeringly immense elephants, who in turn are standing on the shell of an even more immense turtle who is traveling through space to a destination no one knows, possibly not even the turtle. Magic works on this world, but not always as planned. I met Mr. Pratchett when he came to Mini Con, a science fiction convention held every year in Minneapolis. He was bemused when I asked if I could rub the top of his head, but when I explained that I was also a published author hoping thereby to improve both my plots and my vocabulary, he agreed to let me do it. He is a fine, kind gentleman, and a great wit. (The rubbing didn’t work, sigh.)

Back when I was single and often depressed, I used to read and re-read Elizabeth Gouge’s Pilgrim’s Inn. The ending was over the top, but the rest of the book was hugely comforting to me. I haven’t read it in many years, but when we moved into smaller quarters two years ago, and were ruthlessly downsizing even our library of books, I couldn’t part with my battered old copy of Pilgrim’s Inn.

This is a confession: I collect Orphan Annie reprints, the earlier ones from the 1930s. I can’t explain the attraction, but I will haul one or two out, especially this time of year, and read them. I think the daily and Sunday series from 1932 is my very favorite. I cannot explain the attraction, or maybe I don’t want to know the attraction for fear it’s sinister or sick.

Do you have an embarrassing “comfort read”?

11 comments:

Linda O. Johnston said...

I'm not especially embarrassed by my comfort reads, Monica, but I'm definitely more interested in reading fiction than non-fiction. Same goes even in what I like to watch on TV. I guess I'm an escape artist!

Monica Ferris said...

I'm with you, Linda, except that I watch the History Channel and others like it for real-life interrogation scenes, jail scenes, forensic scenes, etc. The fictional ones make compromises with real life to suit their plots, and (probably) so will I, and if I follow the fiction stuff, it would come out laughably wrong.

Linda O. Johnston said...

That's true, Monica. I try for reality in my research, too.

Joanna Campbell Slan said...

Hmm. How about Forever Amber? And Miss PiggleWiggle? And anything Nancy Drew? Actually, I often re-read books because I forget I read them, and then think, "Gee, this plot is familiar." DUH.

Anonymous said...

Well, Monica, your Betsy Devonshire books are comfort reads to me... Thank you! Sy

Monica Ferris said...

Oh, Sy, you made my day -- maybe my week! What a lovely comment!

I shouldn't have used the word "embarrassing" in my column. Wherever anyone turns for comfort reads, it's fine.

Christine Thresh said...

I have read and re-read all my Betsy Devonshire books. I catch little things I missed the first time through and enjoy them all over again.
My other comfort books are by Dick Francis. I have them all (including the last one written with his son). I've read them at least three times.
I don't know why people scoff at re-reading books. We play our favorite music over and over again.

Monica Ferris said...

Christine, you make a terrific point. We do play music we like over and over again. I guess you might compare short stories to modern pop music, and novels to symphonies. But then there's Gilbert and Sullivan . . . (whom I adore, btw.)

Julie said...

It's been really interesting this week, getting everyone's perspective on re-reading. I'm not at all embarrassed to proclaim that I'm a confirmed, dedicated re-reader. I donate books I know I won't re-read, but I still have a lot of books around the house. A LOT. I re-read for comfort, to find the things I didn't catch the first time through, simply to be cozy with the familiar. I have Mary Stewarts that I've practically committed to memory, Harlequin romances from the 70's when I was studying them before I began writing, mysteries, romances, Dick Francis, Betsy Devonshire, O. Henry, Shakespeare, Nora Roberts, Grisham, and of course, Harry Potter. Nonfiction: law, gardening, nature, needlework (lots of needlework) folklore, oral history, more law, history, travel.... If I'm going to the hospital for surgery, or just to the BMV where I'll have to wait and wait, I take a book I've read before, an old friend. I can dip into it anywhere and know what's going on, slip immediately into the world of the story, and soothe either my nerves or my impatience with an old friend. New books are wonderful, but they serve a different purpose, a new adventure rather than an old friend.

Monica Ferris said...

I see what you mean, Julie, and you put it very eloquently. Yes, at times of stress it's great to slip into a story I am familiar with, where there is no struggle to sort out the characters or understand the plot. It's like having a dear friend pay a visit. I have actually worn some books out from reading them over and over.

Betty Hechtman said...

I read Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk a number of times. It was interesting to see how differently I view the book at different times in my life.