On Rediscovering Old Books
At times, I’ve got rid of books.
I remember owning the original Fighting Fantasy Out of the Pit art book, which used to drive me nuts as there was no shelf that would take it, and I ended up getting rid of it, somewhere between house moves. Now, of course, I’m kicking myself, not only because I really wish I still had it (nostalgia points) but also because it’s worth a bastard fortune.
Never mind.
There are also the occasions you somehow lose books, presumably through holes in spacetime. Maybe as a part of those accursed house moves, maybe they just fall down the backs of your shelves and never come back (you know it happens).
On this occasion, the books in question are Alan Dean Foster’s Spellsinger series, the tale of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather, pulled by a grumpy turtle wizard into a world of talking (and stinking, and fighting) animals.
A friend reminded me of them, a while ago, and I finally got round to replacing them, and starting a very belated re-read.
And oh, my dogs.
In Piranesi, Clarke discusses the idea of ways between worlds, and how one returns to the Labyrinth by reconnecting with a magical place of one’s past. Old books feel like that. I can’t have read Spellsinger in more than twenty years, but the first thing that struck me was how much of it there is in Ecko (not only the portal thing, duh, but Mudge’s speech patterns, the slightly irreverent feel, and the idea that the bad guy also comes from the ‘real’ world). The second thing, though, was that old books are just like those Piranesi portals: they take you back to places.
In this world of screens, and noise, and expectation, and influence, and onslaughts of morning horrors, every day, worse and worse, temporary escape becomes critical. I was sat in my front room, last night, remembering Jon-Tom and Mudge and Clothahump, reliving their initial adventures in Lynchbany Towne, and that Piranesi doorway opened, taking me back to my little rented room in Norwich, where my world was the size of a postage stamp, and all of it was light.
And yes, we have to grow up. Yes, we need to deal with the darkness. Yes, we must ensure our adult responsibilities, and go to work and clean the house and handle those morning onslaughts. We have be aware of, and involved in, the world around us.
But likewise, that doorway is very necessary. And old books are a wonderful way to find it!
Reading: Spellsinger (duh) and Cunning Folk, Life in an Era of Practical Magic, which is fascinating look, exploring the pre-modern places where magic was perceived as real, and how this was used.
Watching: having watched Andor and Rogue One, we went through all three of the first (IV, V and VI) of the Star Wars moves, begin utterly struck my how different the look now they have all of these multiple layers of narrative history. That, and Leia kicks some serious ass, for a woman of the 1970s and 80s. Yes, there was the bikini, but she was taking charge, even then.
Playing: Coming to the end of both Zombie Army IV and Space Marine II. I’m not as fond of shoot ‘em ups as I am of RPGs, generally, but they were both good fun anyway!