In Light of Language: 4 Books to Stimulate Your Mind & Your Senses
I find that winter is a time for purging and renewal. Out with the old and in with the new! When we open our minds to things we haven’t yet seen, read, contemplated or otherwise done in our day to day life we can begin to welcome change and appreciate not only this season, but the next. I, presumably like you, find myself a little low during the winter months. With that, I’ve discovered four novels/select pieces the will help you to appreciate literature from a diverse perspective. People create stories. Pages offer the ability to know those stories. Words provide structure and prose for imagination. So, without further ado grab a cup and enjoy!
The Perfect Christmas
By Debbie Macomber
In celebration of the holiday season a quick stop to the library had me intrigued by the thought of a cozy Christmas novel. What better way to liven up my hopeless romantic- and single- self with Debbie Macomber’s The Perfect Christmas. We’ve all encountered that one person who knows everything about relationships and their succession yet, lacks any sort of intimacy in their own personal life. They’d much rather play Cupid for others, but why? This is the question that has Cassie Beaumont, an attractive, obnoxious, thoroughly inquisitive woman with no filter- whose present purpose is to find the love of her life- incredibly intrigued by psychologist Simon Dodson (a man she’ll pay a whopping thirty thousand dollars, might I add, to find her a perfect husband. Would you pay someone THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS to find love? Of course not! Some of you are snickering because perhaps you would, right? Macomber brings realism to her characters by painting them with day to day dilemmas, a little spunk here and a little wit there. There’s always a sapping ending, but never does she disappoint when it comes to guessing. Just when you think you know the outcome you’re left a little shocked. Surprise! It’s that time of year to put your feet up, drink a steaming cup of hot chocolate and read a book. This book.
Leaves of Grass/ “So Long”
By Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass spills out metaphors, emotion, messy things of the world we inhabit and what could or should be. Whitman, born in the 1800s, is an intriguing writer. He writes with poise and haunting depth to effectively display his existence as an unaccepted figure in society. He is the weird man that writes, the odd one, the man that likes other men… He uses highly intellectual contemplation to create imagery and fullness. Several pieces are lengthy and may have to be read several times to grasp the premise. His work mirrors intensity as if he’d written to attach stories to portraits. Personally, after a brief scene in The Notebook, I fell for a piece called “So Long” in which he writes of impending death as if it is love itself, as if it is merely the beginning and never an end. Perhaps on a rainy day, give it a go (one must be in the right atmosphere for his verbiage).
Why I Wake Early
By Mary Oliver
As a lover (and writer of poetry) I can say with no avail that Mary Oliver draws her audience into her work in a way that goes unnoticed until the poem has ended. Why I Wake Early is a short piece exploring and depicting the notions of life, the unknown and where things go after they’re no longer seen. “Lingering in Happiness”, a personal favorite, is one of many perfect examples of contemplation or perplexing thought at its best. Oliver plays with the idea of what might be found as rain falls to the ground and disappears into the grass. Who might it find on its way to whatever lies below the dirt? “… A few drops round as pearls will enter the mole’s tunnel; and soon so many small stones, buried for a thousand years, will feel themselves being touched.”
We Should All Be Feminists
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Some think feminism is means for wicked women; women who hate men or detest other women who love men. Wrong! If you want a minor reality check to discover the root of feminism, especially from a literary stance, read Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists. This is one Nigerian woman’s journey in rectifying what she’d been called her whole life: a feminist. There is a particular voice she brings to this speech-like narrative, one in which does not involve prejudice or blatant biases, but instead an inherent need to be free from discriminatory actions merely because she is female. When we finally understand the true definition of feminism, we’ll also understand its pros, cons and necessary presence. Adichie says, “I would like to ask that we begin to dream about and plan for a different world. A fairer world. A world of happier men and happier women who are truer to themselves…” I want to be treated as a strong and respected woman just as our men should be treated as strong and respected men with feelings, hopes and dreams. Don’t you?
