9.7.11

The Power of Literature

With the end of the Potter series looming at the end of the week, and the Twilight series final movie installments just around the turn of the calendar, some people are saying good-bye to their childhood literature comforts.


It’s moments like this that I like to step back and people watch. And I can’t help get emotional. Not because I’m sad that it’s the end of the series, but because of the immense power literature holds over people.

As a lover of words and stories, I have always found comfort in stories, poetry, and my own words. For so long, I felt like I was the only one who felt this need to live between the pages of Superfudge, wishing Ivon Villa from Desert Blood:The Juarez Murders really existed so I could call her up and chat, wondering what people said about the Buendias in Macondo, creating my own world in which I was whoever I wanted to be at the moments. But as I’ve taken my wonky path through life, I’ve found other people like me.

It’s incredible how the simple act of opening a book can change a person forever. And that, is not only why I love reading and writing, but also why I don’t ever want to stop teaching.

3 comments:

cindylu said...

I've got my tickets for a midnight showing of Harry Potter this week. I'm not really sad the film series is coming to an end. I was bummed about the books though. They were fun to read, especially the last two which you saw EVERYWHERE. You couldn't fly on a plane or ride a bus without seeing someone lug around a copy of Deathly Hallows.

I'm getting back in to fiction. I love reading but don't have much time for it. Research articles are just not that interesting like an epic novel.

Oh, and I was just telling my fiancé about Desert Blood when explaining to him the Juárez femicides.

Georgina Baeza said...

Have you read The Hunger Games? That's like the new HP/Twilight craze. They are super awesome books. That Suzanne Collins! Just like Alicia. I hope your fiancé reads Dessert Blood, it is such a good read.

Hopefully you can do more ludic reading soon. Once I started making more time for pleasure reading, my quality of life increased so much.

La Madre said...

Your post makes me really want to like harry potter. I love your line about the power of literature.