Human passions and the massive continuity of ducks
Hey, I bet you have one, too.
One what?
A precious book stash of many years standing. Pages and pages, exerting a strong pull on your memory and heart. Veritable time machines with the power to instantly catapult us back through the stages of our lives. Replete with oodles of lessons, consciously and unconsciously, informing our life choices.
Book therapy = Cheap therapy. You know?
So….I was in need of respite from our troubled world. Went “respite-hunting” through my well-loved book stash for a literate mystery, undergirded by a sense of humor. Found one! The spine was approaching decrepitude and I couldn’t recall the last time I’d read it. Eons? Ahhhhh, ready to settle in, release the reins of responsibility, and escape….
No. No. No!
Appalled. Absolutely appalled! My chosen mystery novel of escape was very popular when I devoured it, in the 1980s, along with all its sister and brother volumes. Gulp, gulp, gulp! But 40+ years hence, with more culturally-sensitive eyes, I felt punched in the stomach by the book’s sexism and racism. I’d loved this series! I did! Embarrassed, now, by my blind adoration. Truly embarrassed.
Now, just hold your horses! The reading public heaped loads of critical praise on this series. Snappy and humorous repartee, literate writing, literary allusions, and embedded with some great life lessons. I mean, geez, Time magazine, the New York Times, you know, all the old chestnuts from which I took my then-reading suggestions. Shouldn’t those informational organs be embarrassed, too? C’mon, the books were crowned by the creation of an episodic TV series! Is that not acceptance across the damn board?
Whoa! Whoa. Are you denying any responsibility (zip, actually) for your devotion to a book series that now makes you apoplectic because of its cultural biases?
You got a point. The me that loved those books, well, I’m feeling pretty critical of her shortsightedness. Pretty damn critical. Makes me sad. Did I actually imbibe those sexist and racist beliefs at that point in my life? Oh, no, no, no!
Time for a deep breath…
I loved those books during an era when some of our cultural beliefs were antiquated, hurtful, and we hadn’t yet seen the light. A goodly portion of our cultural beliefs are wise and caring. Others truly stink, but as a young ‘un, you just don’t know until you’ve already breathed them in - hook, line, and sinker.
Sigh. A loss, nonetheless.
Where can I find my needed respite, now? Winnie the Pooh? “No one can be uncheered by a balloon.” Too short. What about: “How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.” (Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers.) Gonna go with the ducks! Getting my water wings on. A book first read 50+ years ago. Heading for that elegiac old chestnut wherein the words, flawlessly, still sing to me today.