- Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on X (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Nextdoor (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
alone with all the other voices vying for attention in your head…
not to mention the countless others teeming up from the words nailed to the page…
I’ve often experienced reading as a very noisy internal activity. The zen bit comes when I put the book aside, snuff those voices out and am left not with a word but with a sound (on a good day and with a good book): the satisfying sound of having grown richer.
Love your site more and more, Kurt. 🙂
Yes. Being in the moment, just you and the book … and all the wonderful world that comes with it.
I’m so glad you enjoy it here, joanbarbarasimon. Once again you’ve managed to amplify my happiness.
It’s hard to be alone with a very good book as you are in that world with the characters…unless it’s Dr Seuss in which case you think you are the characters.
You’re absolutely right, InfiniteZip. The best way to be alone is to not feel alone, and to be to able channel the experience of a book in such a way that it is there with you like a good friend.
Yet, when I’m reading a wonderful book, I feel like I’m with the characters–not alone at all. 😉
Yes Lorna’s Voice, exactly. For what you are feeling illustrates, I believe, Franzen’s point superbly. What better way could there be when alone than experiencing a feeling such as yours when reading a wonderful book?
It doesn’t happen real often. But when it does, WOW!