Sunday 28 September 2003

• I think I'll start from the beginning.  It's usually best that way. 

  
  

  Many friends recommend and/or loan books to me.  One such well read friend has--over time--told me stories of books which he has loaned to others and their reactions.  About one such book he had two interesting stories. 

  
  

  The first story was how he lent the book to a friend for something to read on the lomg flight to and from Europe.  When his friend returned he asked that friend how he had liked his week in Europe.  The friend didn't know.  He had spent the whole trip reading the book on buses and trains, in restaurants, and everywhere he was in Europe.  He was unable to put the book down until he finished. 

  
  

  The second story involved lending the book to an employee.  The employee didn't arrive at work the next day.  Nor did he call.  No one answered his phone or front door for three days.  Then he returned to work as if nothing had happened.  It turned out that the employee had been so into the book that he didn't notice how many hours had gone by before he finished it.

  
  

  It was with this kind of a build up I had been prepared for this book I was to borrow.  I had turned down borrowing the book several times, but one time at his hourse he pulled down the book and handed it to me.  He said I could get around to reading it whenever I had the time.  I read a few books prior, but eventually its turn came up.

  
  

  As with most really good books, I found myself reading it slower than usual.  I tend to savor books which others devour.  I'll read a bit, then stop to think about what I've read.  I'll postulate possible outcomes to the most recent situation or situations, ponder when in the story certain foreshadowing will come into play, review the author's ability to convey mood, character, scene, dialog, et cetera.  Then I'll read a little bit more and repeat.  You might remember that I did that for Order of the Phoenix.  The Magus is to adult literature what Harry Potter is to children's literature.  Simply amazing in its brutality.

  
  

  Saturday at lunch I finished Part Two, where all my suspicions of the previous several hundred pages were proven true.  As usual, the book had left me anxious for more. 

  
  

  Then, that evening at the Herrin's place Lori was telling us about how she was reading book three of the Wheel of Time at the eastern Mediterranean restaurant.  The clerk warned her that she should watch what she reads, because it can open up windows for which is might be unprepared.  For some reason, when she told this story it felt as if I was being challenged.  Neither Lori nor the clerk was challenging me, yet the mere mention of it on the day I finished Part Two seemed to me a clear challenge from somewhere.  So I started reading.

  
  

  Inbetween character creation for Trav's Modern Day Exalted campaign I was reading.  Once I got home I was reading.  I stayed up so late that I fell asleep with the book next to me.  Then I woke up consumed with the need to finish it.  The sleeping and reading cycles continued until I was finished.  Then, in the altered state caused by the poor excuse for sleep I had had and the savage ending of the book I felt compelled to write some poetic prose, and to leave it here.

  
  

  And so I did.  That is the story behind the strange previous post.  You'll find that the post doesn't have a way to post comments or eprops.  That is because it is not truely a journal entry, but a moment of catharsis brought on by the completion of the novel. 

  
  

  I will not review this book in my reviews section.  Nothing I could say would bring it justice.  I wouldn't want to encourage those who shouldn't to read it, nor would I want to discourage those who should read it.  The book is.  That is important enough.

  • 23:45
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