Can’t picture ’em any other way
I’ve been reading in a serious way, not since childhood, but since about the twelfth grade. Since then I have filled the majority of my spare time with the hobby. This says a couple of things about reading as a leisurely activity: namely that you don’t have to be born a reader to learn to adore it, but also (more to the point of this narrative) that if you take it up in later life, you may find yourself having to fill some gaps. For example, last week I read (for the first time) The Lord of the Rings. I know. Fantasy is my favourite genre, and here I am: a preacher without a bible. So I thought I’d buck up and read it. Note that there was nothing daunting about the book itself, and Tolkien is (obviously) a fine writer. I was worried that I had forsaken the master by watching the movies as a child.
“It was before I was a reader! I didn’t know!”
These excuses ring hollow in the wake of knowing what is going to happen to some of the greatest characters ever wrought in fantasy. The plot won’t surprise me, and Legolas looks like Orlando Bloom. No offense to Mr. Bloom and the rest of the movie cast, but not being forced to create the characters in your head really takes away from the fun, and this has never happened to me before. Such a grand scale screw-up that I just can’t live down. Reading the books was super-fun, and the collection is in the top tier of all books, but I just feel like I dropped the ball, hard. Though I suppose the same thing is probably happening to teens with regards to Ender’s Game (though the movie probably doesn’t have grade-school children killing each other). From the depths of failure, I say this: if you can, read it first. True of Fight Club, Silence of the Lambs, and certainly for Game of Thrones. Let your imagination soar, or you’ll find yourself in my position.
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~Sam Scrimger
Widdershins Lit 