Thursday, February 26, 2009

THE BEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF READING


In response to a writing prompt on Mama’s Losin’ It blog:
What made your childhood bearable?

        My childhood was not normally unbearable. Of course there were moments that weren’t great and I especially hated taking piano lessons from my father who was a pianist and organist. My hating to practice caused a lot of friction in the family. Of course we had chores to do and my parents were rather strict, discipline-wise, but I had a lot of fun things to do to keep me busy: making crafts, riding my bike, playing softball. Growing up, the other neighborhood kids and I played in the woods by ourselves for hours and no one seemed to worry about our safety.
        Even with all those fun things to do, I may not have survived childhood if I had not been able to read, for reading took me to another time and place. It made me forget my own petty childhood  problems. 
        The local library was about a half mile from our house. I walked or rode my bike there. I read every juvenile mystery in the library before I was in fourth grade. I had to have a special note from my mother to sign out books from the adult collection. My mother, of course, looked through the books before I read them to make sure they were approprriate for me. At that time, the adult collection wasn’t “adult” in the sense we think of today. Most mystery books were rather “cozy” such as those by Agatha Christie or Mary Roberts Rinehart ---where there was little or no blood and all the violence happened “off screen” so to speak.
       My grandmother gave us her old Reader’s Digest condensed books and I read most of those. I read every book my parents had in the house. I poured over my parents National Geographic magazines and continued to read detective and mystery novels.
       At the library, I picked up a list of books one should read before college. I read as many of those classics as I could squeeze into my summers: Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Little Women, Gone With the Wind, Portrait of a Lady, My Antonia, The Great Gatsby, Robinson Crusoe, The Red Badge of Courage, The Scarlet Letter, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Alice in Wonderland, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Lord of the Flies, Look Homeward Angel, Main Street, The Three Musketeers, Jane Eyre and many more.
        I had a book with me almost all the time. Sometimes my mother had to pull it from my fingers and hide it until my chores were done. I often placed a book on the steps to the upstairs with the door closed at the bottom of the steps. There it was out-of-sight but handy once I completed my chores, and also ready to be carried upstairs if I were going to my room. No matter how often I asked her not to do it, my sister, who was a neatnik, would see my book on the steps and take it to my room, so when I went to grab it from the stairs it would be gone. I remember being angry at her a lot, because even the three minutes it took to run upstairs for my book meant three minutes I wasn't reading.
        We had a porch on the east side of the house, so it was shady on hot afternoons. I loved sitting there reading, but I also had ----not a tree house ----a tree “seat” my father had nailed to the limbs of the apple tree in the backyard, so I could read there, high in the branches unable to be seen from the house.
        I have never lost my love for reading. My husband and I make a weekly trip to the library. Reading is still my favorite escape from personal challenges or when I want to forget the problems of the world.  I learn from every book I read, fiction or nonfiction. Books enlighten me. They lighten the load.

      Mystery and detective novels are still among my favorites, but I read more non-fiction than I did when I was younger. Mark Twain has become a passion. I will be attending another Twain conference this coming summer.
        Although I still have real books within arm's reach, I listen to many audio books while I drive, do laundry or work in the garden. Audio books are a book lover’s dream ---to be able to do something else and “read” at the same time. Ah! That is paradise.

(©2009,C.J. Peiffer)








14 comments:

Kristen said...

I can't put a book down until the sun starts to rise. But school books were another story :(
I can imagine the tree perch. Your own private world...

Sandra said...

Wow... I love to read... you put me to shame!!!

Lovely post...I'm going to go read now!

Unknown said...

I still remember journeying to the Library every three days and checking out the maximum number I could. The worlds of wonder when I discovered science fiction still burn bright in my mind.

As an addictive reader, I have to have a book to read at all time. It is the perfect way to relax and dream.

Good post.

Anonymous said...

I adore reading too and it's one of the happiest memories of my childhood!

Jenners said...

I so related to this! Reading was one of the most constant threads of my childhood and certain books remain some of my most vivid childhood memories. And getting to explore the library and discovering all that was there -- especially outside of the kid section -- was like going on a treasure hunt every week. I just loved this post! Thank you so much -- you did a great job with it.

Anonymous said...

I remember loving to read even in the third grad. My Dad got me older books too. Not todays older.

MommyDesiree said...

Oh yummy yummy reading! You made me want to leave the computer and curl up with a book right this instant!

Nice work. TFS!

Heatherlyn said...

Your childhood sounds very good. So ... did you actually learn to play the piano?

I love reading too. Reading opens up so many doors. It's like being able to live more than one life!

Angela Tolsma said...

What's your favorite book??

KatBouska said...

Wow...I just love little readers. We're a dying breed you know!?!

CJ said...

Thanks for the great comments. To answer a few questions:

Heatherlyn asked if I ever learned to play the piano. Yes, but very badly. You can read more on my posts: Tone Deaf: Part One Piano Lessons at
http://proartz.blogspot.com/2008/12/tone-deaf-part-one.html
Tone Deaf: Part Two The Missing Gene
http://proartz.blogspot.com/2009/01/tone-deaf-part-two.html

Namine asked about my favorite book. That's like asking which is one's favorite child. But if I had to choose, Sophie's Choice is one of my favorites of more recent novels. Of classics, I might say Jane Eyre. I love almost anything by Twain or Fitzgerald. Lately, I've enjoyed Lee Child's series featuring Jack Reacher and Michael Connelly's novels, but dang, authors can't write as fast as i read.

♥ Kathy said...

I feel the same way about my books :) love them all

Country Mouse, City Mouse said...

What a wonderful memory of the library, and all the wonders it held.

Dina said...

I love to read too and miss having the time I had to read before having a child. It is still one of my favorite escapes though. I usually get so lost in a story that it takes me awhile to bring myself back to reality after I put the book down. Biggest pet peeve - my husband trying to have casual conversation with me when my nose is buried in a book. :-)

By the way, my mom was a piano teacher when I was growing up. It really does stink to live with your piano teacher, because there is no way of getting around practicing. My mom would set the timer and I couldn't get up until the timer went off. She'd also critique - okay, and encourage - while I played. I hated it then, but am thankful now.