Are you a good witch or a bad witch?*

by chuckofish

Are you more of a Calvin or a Hobbes?

Well, here we are in 2021. Everyone seems to be trying real hard to convince themselves things are going to get better. I am less optimistic. Nevertheless, I continue onward.

I don’t know about you, I joke about my brain becoming mush, but sometimes I worry it really is. I barely read a word over my Christmas break. I mean, I’d think about opening a book and then be like NAH. The only thing I was able to read was Swan Lake by Mark Helperin. It’s a children’s book, so roughly my 2020 reading level.

It was the kind of writing that feels poetic, almost rhythmic, while still being prose. I don’t know, I enjoyed it.

“Perhaps you have felt the presence of such places when, in a darkened concert hall, the music makes the moon rise, perfectly fresh and bright, as if the roof has opened up above you, or when the trees shudder in a sudden wind and the sun unexpectedly lights the undersides of their rustling leaves. They do exist, although they are so hard to find that it is tempting to believe they are illusions. But all places cannot be exactly the same. Some are slightly better than others; some are much better; some are vastly better. Were the world uniform, you not be able to distinguish a pin from a needle. But you can, of course. And what about a pin and a hippopotamus? And that is just the beginning. As for those who would deny the existence of forests hidden in a crown of mountains, of sheltered places, of charged landscapes that can put together broken hearts, or at least keep them from shattering into pieces, ask them about hippopotamuses and pins.”

Swan Lake, Mark Helperin

This passage reminded me of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when the narrator is describing the house with its many rooms and hallways. The writing itself reminded me of Amor Towles. It was refreshing.

This passage also struck me as a good reminder of why we are all different and why that is a good thing. It is also a good reminder that there is beauty in the world–even if we are becoming conditioned only to find flaws.

The next time I’m home I’ll have to dust off the other two books in the trilogy. For now, I’m going to attempt reading Winter’s Tale, an actual chapter book for adults. I’ll report back.

*It is probably useful to ask oneself this question at the start of a new year, right?