Author of The Secrets of Jin-Shei and the Worldweavers series
|
Why do people treat books as mirrors?
Parents or grandparents look at a book and come up with reasons why their child won't want to read it: my kid is a country kid and the book is set in the city, my kid has a brother and not a sister like the character in the book. The 'Oh, I don't think he'll really be interested in THAT' comment when the skin color of the child on the book cover doesn't match the precise hue of the potential reader of the book.
Why is the value of a book measured by how much of oneself one can 'find' in it? I have never picked up a book looking for multiple incarnations of me. I've sought new things, new experiences, new ideas, landscapes I might never see in real life, people I might never meet, and people I might be fascinated with but would not remotely want to actually BE. I have never picked up a fantasy book with a dragon on the cover and expected to find a clone of me riding the dragon by page five.
When I read a book, I'm not looking for me.
Do people really believe that a child is incapable of imagining the things that are not spelled out for her? If that is the case I despair for the human race because it is wonder and imagination, the kind nurtured in very young children, which has taken us this far - and which may still be the only thing that will carry us forward.
Let's keep the books as portals, as gateways into the unknown, as a magic carpet which can take us to lands unknown and perils unnumbered, where we can go wearing someone else's skin - learning what it means to be HUMAN, as opposed to just being ourselves.
Read More...2009 - Dates are always getting added, check back regularly!
I'm represented by Jill Grinberg of Jill Grinberg Literary Management in New York. I also welcome comments from my readers in e-mail. (Note: To keep spammers at bay, JavaScript is required for the e-mail link. If it doesn't work for you, make sure JavaScript is turned on in your browser.)
|
