“A person's words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.” Proverbs 18:4
I am a bookworm. I think the term has lost some meaning over the years. With the advent of audiobooks, e-readers and other numerous distractions of present day technology, the old-fashioned, analog book has become less commonplace. I find this sad, because for me, there is little else that compares to the feel (and honestly, the smell) of a brand new, unopened paperback novel.
I am partial to the paperback. It seems that hardbound printings are the first printings and therefore if you’re interested in reading a book fresh off the presses, it will inevitably be in hardback form. But the patient bookworm can acquire a paperback in due-time and benefit from its reduced size and expense.
Bookworms take a lot into account when choosing a book. Each of us has a unique system for selecting the perfect next read. Personally, I never know how many pages a book has when I start. I just pick it up because someone recommended it or because it had good reviews on Amazon. Sometimes, I choose a book because I read the dust-cover and am intrigued by the synopsis. But more often than not, if I’m completely honest, I choose a book by its cover. Yes, I judge the book, solely on its cover. Designers spend endless hours and extreme cost on finding the perfect cover for a book and that is not lost on me. I am attracted to the design or the colors or the image, not to mention the title. However, no matter what causes me to choose a book, it is rarely, if ever, the number of pages.
The first book I ever loved, starting my journey as a bookworm, was in my high school American Lit class. That book was Ethan Frome by Edith Warton. Interestingly enough, it is the only novel we read in that class written by a woman. If you’re unfamiliar with Ethan Frome, Amazon describes it as a “tale of despair, forbidden emotions, and sexual tensions”. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect reading assignment for a class full of sixteen-year-olds, hopped up on hormones, forbidden emotions and despair. It was a stark story, backlit by a stark setting and stark characters. It was the perfect storm of teen angst. That’s probably exactly why I enjoyed it my Junior year.
I re-read Ethan Frome again as an adult and didn’t find quite the same appeal, although I did appreciate the history, character arc and the fact that not every story, including Ethan Frome, has to have a happy ending. The one issue, incidentally, that was never an issue, was its number of pages. The number of pages in Ethan Frome is ninety-nine (at least in the Penguin Classic printing).
Approximately thirteen years ago I read another novel that is on my top-ten list. It was not a reading assignment. It was a recommendation from my dear sister-in-law. The interesting part of her recommendation was the caveat of “give it at least one-hundred pages”. What she meant by this was, don’t give up in the beginning. Often new books are hard to get the hang of because the characters, story and setting are new. If you “give it” a hundred pages, then you have the opportunity to learn where you are and who you’re with in the narrative. The first hundred pages can make or break a book. This was very true of The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory.
Amazon describes it as such: “a riveting historical drama. It brings to light a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe, and survived a treacherous political landscape by following her heart.” Actually, now that I think of it, The Other Boleyn Girl is a lot like Ethan Frome...
And I’m beginning to see a pattern emerge in my reading selections. Believe me, I do read more than angsty, stark, sexually driven plot lines… I think… Maybe that’s worth analyzing for another day. All this to say, I “gave” The Other Boleyn Girl one-hundred pages. Once I had, it was easy to “give it” the other five-hundred-and-fifty-four.
Of course, in picking up these books, I could always feel their weightiness in my hand and recognized the thickness of their offering. I have never let it dissuade me from digging in and getting to know the characters. The length of a book never puts me off of the investment it takes to relate to the story, to engage in the plot and discover the nuances that each book provides. I am never obligated to finish a book either. If I start a book, I will usually follow my sister-in-law’s advice and “give it a hundred pages”. If, by then, I am not feeling connected, I toss it aside. I figure there is too little time, and too many great books to waste on those that don’t capture my heart.
An interesting side-note about me and books, though, is that when I’m nearing the end, the pages and their number start to matter.
Sometimes I am excited to see what the author can pack in those last dozen pages. Sometimes, I’m sad that the end is near and I'm holding on to the characters and the story, eking out every last morsel. I will flip from my current page to the last page counting backwards in my mind how many pages are left. It's like saying good-bye to a friend, counting the days til their departure. Enjoying the last moments you have together. And then, just as quickly as it began, the last words are read. The characters who were alive and important, evaporate like vapor.
The story is done.
No bookworm has ever finished a “good book” and not felt a little sad, a little lost. No bookworm has ever read a “good book” and not wished that they could start again, without knowing what they know. We long to take the journey of discovery again.
We mourn for a moment and hold the cool, rectangular prism in our hand. It is a loss, a letting go. It is so silly and yet so profound. Sometimes we fan the pages before our eyes in wonder, overwhelmed by what the pages have held: black marks that create a world, a friend, an emotion. So much in so little…
Fortunately for us, the grieving doesn't last too long. There is always another book. No self-respecting bookworm doesn’t have the next offering lined up, with several other alternates standing by.
Plus, they are usually within arms reach…
And for me, it doesn’t matter how many pages it has…
Just as long as it has a pretty cover.
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