Words are distracting. At least they are to me.
I don't know what it is about words and letters, but very often I find myself reading them over and over and over again. We used to keep packing boxes behind our old couch, and the edges of the boxes would peek over the back of the couch. Every time I sat on the couch to talk with Amos, I would inevitably be distracted by the words and phrases that were only partially visible. What did the rest of that sentence say? Could it say this? Why weren't the lines of text centered? Which words would make the lines centered on the box edge? We finally moved the boxes when we got a new couch, which makes talking on the couch much easier. A few months ago Amos and I were sitting in our friend's office at church, discussing the direction of the college group. I listened to and talked with Amos and Paul, but I still found myself trying to read all of the titles on Paul's bookshelves. In a third example, I was having dinner with a new friend and reading the words "North Face" on her pink sweatshirt over and over again, trying to come up with a pattern in the letters or a different way to arrange the two words. It was very distracting.
I suppose some people would call that OCD.
I just love words. I love to read Psalms because of the eloquent truths.
"I would have lost hope unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
or other places in Scripture, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
I read all sorts of books, and every once in a while I wish I could write like their authors. Mind you, I don't want to write in a flowery style, talking about sun-dappled lanes and fiery drops of gold glistening on dewy roses. That is just a little too weird and forced.
But I just love words, and I love books by authors who know how to use them. My most recent "word" investment cost me just $0.50.
I walked to our neighborhood thrift store on Saturday, intending to look at the children's books to see if there were any we could take to India. This thrift store is even cheaper than Goodwill, charging only twenty-five cents for a paperback children's book! I found two autobiographies by Roald Dahl: Boy: Tales of Childhood and Going Solo. I'd never read any books by Roald Dahl, but I remember my dad reading Ross and Scott James and the Giant Peach when we were little (I'm not sure why I wasn't included; I was probably too young). I never read any Dahl books myself, though, because I was usually creeped out by the illustrations on the front covers.
Anyway, I bought the two books after skimming only a few pages. I figured if they weren't appropriate for the kids in India, I could always keep them myself. I started Boy on Saturday and I finished Going Solo today; I loved them. It amazes me how so many different people can use so many of the same words in so many different ways. Roald Dahl was very good at crafting exciting, creative, hilarious sentences out ordinary, everyday words. I'm interested to see if his fiction is as well-written as his two autobiographies.
Excerpts from Boy: Tales of Childhood
The Great Mouse Plot
"When writing about oneself, one must strive to be truthful. Truth is more important than modesty. I must tell you, therefore, that it was I and I alone who had the idea for the great and daring Mouse Plot. We all have our moments of brilliance and glory, and this was mine."
Goat's tobacco
"When I was about nine, the ancient half-sister got engaged to be married."
