Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Visiting Old Friends

I'm not going to write about the weather today. Really, I'm not. Except to mention, just off-hand, briefly, you know, all nonchalant and stuff, that it is currently 50 DEGREES OUTSIDE. What is that sound? That drip drip drip drip drip? Oh right - THE SNOW IS MELTING! THE SNOW IS MELTING!!! HALLELUJAH!!

Ding dong the winter's dead! What's all dead? The winter's dead! Ding dong the wicked winter's dead!

(Man, I must be losing it; that's my second Wizard of Oz reference in the last few weeks.)

In celebration, I shall write about something besides snow. Amazing, I know.

So, during this nasty, insane, ludicrous winter I had a large amount of time to spend holed up in my house, waiting out the storms. Add to that the fact that it was utterly miserable outside for long weeks at a time, and you have a perfect recipe for escapism. Not one to be deterred by cliches, I dove right into an old, beloved fantasy series: Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle. 

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I've read these books before, and adored them, but it's been years since I last picked them up (well, except for The Tombs of Atuan; I read that one on an annual basis.) And this time through, reading them as an adult and not a teenager or college student, one of my favorite things happened: I read the familiar, much-loved stories and characters, and it was an entirely new experience. There was the memory of how I felt reading them years ago, and then there were all of the new, unexpected, and very different feelings reading them again.

I love when this happens. It's the mark of well-written, thoughtful books: the ability to reach different readers on different levels at different times. I'd even venture to say it's one of the things that fantasy does so well, because everything in fantasy is cloaked and wrapped in metaphor. Sometimes, at some points in our lives, we see its disguise, and then at others, we see beneath that costume to its true nature. Metaphor, myth, fantasy; these things are primal; felt but not always understood; they reach down into the dark corners of our minds and touch something there, in the deepest level, our collective unconscious.

I won't give away anything, or spoil anything, but there were things I'd disliked about these books when I was younger, that I found had now become some of my favorite parts - because I understood them so differently. The fourth book, Tehanu, used to be one of my least favorite, and this time, I loved it. I also learned, incidentally, that Le Guin wrote it nearly twenty years after the third book - and you can see that change and growth in every word. Or at least, I could see it now, fifteen years after the first time I read it.

What about you? What books do you return to, and find new meaning in, over and over again?


25 comments:

  1. Isn't it great that the snow is finally melting?! I'm sure we'll still be looking at it for a while before it's all gone, though.

    There are a few books that I like to reread every now and then. It's always fun to find something you missed or look at things in a different way. :)

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  2. Why it's downright tropical weather for you! This winter I didn't reread but I did read older books (10-15 years).

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  3. I don't particularly look for meaning, but I return to some of my favorite books from time to time. Outlander, Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold, any of the Dresden Files... I'm not sure what in particular draws me back, but I pick up the books again and again to flip through the pages. *shrug*

    I haven't read the Earthsea books, but I am definitely going to check them out. :)

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    1. Did you read all the Outlander books? I only read the first. LOVED it, but then I heard like there was 15 in the series. I wasn't ready for a serious commitment at the time. I do intend to return to it though.

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  4. I do look at books differently since I'm a writer and the Lord of the Rings is something I reread over and over again and always find something different. Usually, that a writer would never get away with that nowadays.

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  5. Hey Liz, that's funny; I just finished rereading Earthsea in the fall. Tehanu is not the last book. Have you read "The Other Wind"?

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    1. But of course! And Tales From Earthsea, too :)

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  6. I haven't read Le Guin in ages, but I do recall enjoying Tombs of Atuan.

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  7. There's a blog I follow called "If I Only Had a Time Machine" and she has a time lapse video of Boston getting socked. You might like it:) Then again you lived it so...maybe not:) I will re-read "Call of the Wild" and, of course, my film books to just escape from my dog who thinks it is fine to take a dump in the hallway. Why look at that when I can pretend to be Pola Negri drinking champagne out of a shoe (oh yes...the stench wakes me up but usually my hubby picks up the poop). My dog is terrified of the outside so he comes in too fast & then poops. OK being sidetracked...you must be happy with that warmer weather:)

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  8. Glad your snow is melting.
    Sometimes we can go back to those old books and find new treasures.

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  9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

    Hands down.

    It's my favorite book and it's not just because Francie was born in Brooklyn (and so was I) or that she grew up poor (so did I) or that she wanted to be a writer (so do I) but it's just the magical storytelling of Betty Smith that made me fall in love with this book and these characters. I love Francie. She's so beautiful and wonderful in so many ways... and I've read her story so many times and YES, I learn something new with every read. I totally get what you mean. Reading the same thing at different times in your life you understand different aspects of the same story. It's crazy, but awesome. Cool post! (and also, if you've never read ATGIB, I would HIGHLY recommend it!)

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  10. I haven't read the Earthsea books, but I love when that happens when re-reading a book at a different stage in life. Things you missed when you were younger because you didn't have the life experience to understand…yeah, love it when I discover a new connection like that during a re-read.

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  11. oh, I LOVE when this happens..Sarah Dessens books always do this to me...I can read them when I'm going through different things/ relationships etc and it always brings new meaning.

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  12. I've had this experience, too, although I don't reread as much as I'd like. A book is like a mirror of who you once were. I've always wanted to read the Earthsea trilogy. I saw LeGuin at a reading of some of her adult stuff years ago in Portland. It was amazing.

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  13. I enjoy reading books I haven't read in ages. Some lose meaning, others gain it. I've been wanting to go back through and re-read some of the books that made me want to be a writer again. There are several by Stephen King I'd like to revisit, for instance.

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  14. Reading books I loved as a kid/teen is always so much fun. There's always things I forgot, or couldn't comprehend as a kid, so it feels like an all new experience. :)

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  15. I don't think I've ever read any of her books. I really like rereading Beauty by Robin McKinley. And of course, Marion Chesney, I've read her series over and over again!

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  16. I understand how one sees things differently as adults. I just watched an episode of Batman and Robin (1968ish) and I laughed so hard. I don't recall finding that show remotely funny years ago.

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  17. Woohooo!!! Melting snow! :) I'll have to check out those books. And I absolutely know what you mean. I have books on my shelf that I reread and find comfort in that warm feeling of the first time I'd read it and getting to relive both the story and that first moment!

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  18. I was just writing about this! I have had a few people recently tell me they never (NEVER) read a book twice and I was like, "Hmm. Interesting." But, really, thinking of the ten times I've read Harry Potter. I love new books but often return to old favorites. Happy to see I'm not alone.

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  19. One of my favorite books is Sula by Toni Morrison. I've read it a few times but the last time I read it I had a moment of, "Aha! So that's what she meant!" And if I ever read it again (I'm sure I will) I'll probably see something else. And I'm so glad to hear that the snow is melting! Here's to seeing some green grass in the very near future.

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  20. I haven't done a lot of re-reading lately, and I feel like I should. Not just for all the reasons you've listed here, but because I own books that I've only read once, and I know they were really good, but there's a lot about them I've forgotten. But I have a lot of free time now, and all my books just arrived today, so I can get around to that. ^_^

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  21. So happy your snow is melting...we are having a cyclone now!

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  22. I'll check all these books again...I need to!

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  23. Finally! Warmer days are coming. Enjoy it! Reading is best at any season, don't you think?

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