At 2 a.m. I woke to hear the coyotes wailing. Then, eventually, I fell asleep again and dreamed I was climbing up the side of a large Greek revival building. If anyone knows what "Greek revival building" signifies in the symbolism of dreams, I would be glad to learn.
Monday, June 20, 2011
In order to reteach myself how to concentrate on a book, I got into bed with Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped last night. How I love this novel, but I'm not sure that I can explain why. For whatever reason, David Balfour's dogged, clumsy, kind-hearted heroism pleases my tired mind. The portraits of the Scottish landscape are vivid. Alan Breck is like a successful, athletic Toad of Toad Hall. There is no romance to distract me from the simple frissons of the quest. I own an old hardcover edition, with all pages intact, a solid-enough spine, and pleasantly large type. All these qualities cohere into a book that is ideal for the convalescent mind.
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P.S. I have not yet said thank-you to all of you who have steadily left comments this week. Forgive me, and know that your affection and dismay have been a support. In many ways, it has felt wrong to write about this horror, as if I'm mining the victims for material. But then again, writing is what I do.
And the writing has helped me, perhaps us?, to remember how very precious life is and to somehow give support and love to all involved.
A dream about a Greek revival building -- not sure the significance to you, but to me that would be a true nightmare because we've been working at renovating our old Greek revival house for about 12 years and it's been painful!...
As for feeling wrong to write about the tragedy of your friend's family -- I felt the same way when I wrote of my younger brother's untimely death. As you say, it's what we writers do, but also and more importantly, these shared common experiences make us more human and more connected to one another. I'm so glad you wrote about them! Take care!
xo Julia
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