Life and Lit

Books are the haven of the lonely child. What a wonder they were to the little girl with few friends, who struggled to understand the behavior of other children, and who could not learn how from the numerous adults in her life. When the wonders of nature grew tired there was always another world waiting to be explored between those covers. The ink was my wardrobe to a fantasy land where the author laid the scene, offered friends and a goal; the foundations for yet another playground where imagination could run wild and expand the bounds of what is possible. There is little camaraderie I have found that is so quickly and easily struck as that between two fans of a particular piece of media, and books are no exception. Sharing a world and family that you have crafted from the experience of your reading with another fan who shares your enthusiasm and brings their own experience sparks a unique connection. However, the connections don’t have to be limited to those isolated instances, the emotional education many authors try to impart through their works can teach empathy and understanding beyond those who share that niche interest. Anger, sorrow, disgust, or joy. Emotion is the heart of any story, proof that what has come from the hand of any writer is truly art. Even the most dry textbook can strike a chord with some student or inspire some great discovery in the future. The model of fiction makes it a fascinating tool for the exploration of morality, imperfect as any other in common use. The innate influence of an author’s personal opinions and experiences is, unsurprisingly, a hotly discussed issue still in many literary circles. JK Rowling comes to mind as a popular subject for discussions about the concept of death of the author, a term adapted from an essay of the same name by French essayist Roland Barthes. How much of an author’s personal opinions and experiences should a reader take into account when encountering a piece of their work? How much will the reader’s own experiences shape their reading? The biggest question a reader must always ask though is: how will this next story change my life and my views? After all, between each set of covers lies a new world or learning.