At some point in our lives, we’ve all read Little Women and declared ourselves a Jo, Meg, Beth, or Amy or closed a copy of Pride and Prejudice and saw ourselves in Elizabeth or Jane but never a Kitty, maybe Mary. We want to be the heroine with all the wonderful character traits. Sometimes, though, we pick up a book and find ourselves in the heroine with all the flaws and foibles of humanity and worse in ourselves.
Recently, I read M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series (since I love the show) and saw every bit of me in Aggie. I could have cringed and stopped reading but I loved it too much. I kept on reading, wanting more of everything. I did cringe because I saw myself taking the same action, making the same decisions as Agatha. I did laugh at seeing myself. Also, I felt understood, seen in a way that I hadn’t before, even if I didn’t like every part of our characters. As I turned the pages, I tried to learn the lessons the easy way, unlike Aggie. To avoid the hurt, the embarrassment, or the regret. That is just one of the greatness of books, lessons learned. Compassion for our flaws and ourselves.
What book, if any, has affected you in such a way?
No comments:
Post a Comment