Why read?

 

As a human I read for joy, comfort, knowledge and/or information, inspiration, procrastination, escapism and many other reasons. Sometimes, when I find a book tedious, I don't finish it, but if I have to find out how a story ends, I plug on. Reading adds dimension to my already rich life.

As a writer there are times when I'm reading that I see how another writer uses a certain technique such as where they show don't tell, lay the groundwork for the climax, interweave a philosophy into the story. Other times the characters, living or imaginary, take up resident along with the characters of whatever I am working on and talk to me when I'm doing dishes, taking a shower, playing with the dog, or riding in the car.

I have just started Barbara Kingslover's Unsheltered and already I'm living with Willa, Zeke and Tig. Describing a character's appearance has been overdone in many ways such as she looked in the mirror as she brushed her long red hair.

I read a paragraph where on page 26 in 85 words she described her husband, son, herself, her feelings about her marriage and their ethnic backgrounds.

"People remarked on his resemblance to his father, and superficially it was true: he has the height and shoulders, the trustworthy wide-set eyes. 'Molded in the image of his papa,' the Greek relatives gushed each time they saw Zeke. and Willa wouldn't argue--she loved the mold. The shape of her husband in a doorway could still bump her heart. But Zeke's ash-blond coloring was all Willa's, and so was everything inside: a handsome Greek mold with pale stuff of a duty bound maternal line."

Absolutely brilliant.