It was January, and it was my eighth birthday. Jimmy lived a few houses away from me, and it was his birthday too. We were born on the same day of the same year. Strange coincidence, I thought, seeing as we lived so close to each other.
Jimmy and I exchanged gifts on special occasions. I don’t remember what I gave him; just that it was bought at a store and wrapped in fancy gift-wrapping paper. It was the correct way to honor such and occasion.
He gave me an item wrapped in brown paper. The wrapping was a cut up brown paper bag. I’m sure of that, even though years have passed since that day. Even though it looked drab and dreary, I couldn’t wait to open it.
I tore the paper as quickly as I could only to find out it was a green book. In fact it was the one I saw on his bookshelf. Certainly I was insulted. How could he just take a discard and give it to me as a gift? I knew he did the wrong thing.
After that, we didn’t play together very often. That was in part because of the winter weather, and mostly because he committed this travesty of young friendship. Frankly, I was miffed.
Summer rolled around, and one hot day I had nothing to do. The green book was sitting on the bookshelf in the living room. I couldn’t bear to touch it, wanted nothing to do with it, and became upset every time I saw it.
But that day I was beyond normal boredom. It was super-boredom, incarnate.
For some reason, I don’t know why; I went over to the bookshelf, and picked up the green book and opened it. The inside pages read, “Lad: A Dog” by Albert Payson Terhune.
I began reading this dreadfully inappropriate birthday gift. I couldn’t put it down. It was an amazing book that glued me to the couch for the rest of the day.
After that, I spent hours and hours scouring the local library for interesting books to read. There were tons of great books to occupy any young mind. And there still are.
That’s how I became addicted to reading.
© January 2006
14 comments:
Oh, my gosh! I remember Lad: A Dog. Did you also read Rusty, about an Irish Setter? Thanks for visiting Sling Words.
Yes, I read all of the dog books.
Thanks for stopping by.
do you like Isaac Asimov?
:-)
(i love George Orwell too)
best wishes,
Deborah
You may find this funny; I haven't read Asimov...yet.
My start was the Sherlock Holmes books. So my fiction reading preference has been for mystery. Asimov has written a bunch of who-done-it stories about the Black Widowers, his group of detectives. These stories have been copied by many, but without the quality he provided.
Asimov also wrote a bunch factual science, that did a better job of explaining things than the school text books did.
My science fiction reading has been mostly Bradbury.
You have Conrad and Nabokov on your list of books. Their writing is wonderful.
in my opinion, I call mistery and detective books by three words: Edgar Allan poe :-)
Rick, I think you hit a nerve with your post since comments are still trickling in. Had to chime in on Edgar Allen Poe. I remember the summer I immersed myself in all his stories. They began with such a detached tone and grew into a scary, emotional maelstrom.
Poe is another great writer, who does not receive the credit he deserves.
I always enjoyed reading Poe's work. He definitely made you squirm.
I think Bradbury is my favorite. Of course Orwell was superb. Orwell's real name was Eric Blair. He wrote some interesting essays.
Have you ever gone back to read a book you thought was great? Then you wonder why you ever read it at all.
Here in Brazil Orwell and Poe are very respected, I know a lot of readers who have them as favourite writers.
And I'd read Lolita twice or more and notice different and interesting aspects every time
I didn't post anything on my blog yet, but as I liked this discussion, I will write in portuguese and put a translation to english for you. :-)
Moca,
Aprecio as traduções. Eu vou fazer o mesmo por você. O novo mundo da tecnologia torna mais fácil para todos se comunicar.
Lolita também foi um grande filme estrelando James Mason e Sue Lyon Sue diz que arruinou sua carreira, jogando o papel Lolita, durante um momento em que foi tabu.
Gosto de escrever em seu destacamento em.
Obrigado.
Hey! Thanks for dropping a line in my blog! It's amazing to hear your grandparents are from my home country! If you are interested in finding out more about the culture, i def could help you with this..
vija,
I would appreciate any help you can give me. How can I access you blog?
Rick
Romas Kalanta - that's where the interest in self-immolation came from...
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