If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things

Something’s different. I don’t know what. Just is.

On the E train, a girl wearing thin-rimmed glasses in the seat in front of me. She's hunched over a book, lost in the story that's unfolding in her lap. All of a sudden, she looks up, startled. The doors are about to close on her, on Penn Station. She leaps out, catlike. A quick, precise, elegant escape. Nothing but a light breeze and the faint smell of lavender.

I smile. A reader. A dying breed. Caught between the pages of a good story, immobilized, trapped. Not all the megaphones and bells in the world could tear her away.

I go back to my own book, its beautiful prose, graceful imagery. It’s brilliant. I have to stop every so often to absorb what I just read, the elegance of it all. Amazed at the writer whose first book was nominated for the Booker. Even the title gives me chills.

It was "Zach" who turned me on to it.
"Was just reading your blog," he texted a few days earlier.
"You were?"

I thought he’d say something about my pathetic love life, my failed attempts at dating. Instead all he wrote was, "Have you read 'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things?'"

“Zach,” I realize, also a reader.

So was the sales guy at Barnes & Noble. When I asked about the book his eyes grew wider, his whole face, nostalgia. A moment of recognition.

"It's the best book I've read in years," he said.

You could just tell, this man, like “Zach,” like the girl on the subway, an addict of fiction, salt of the Earth.

I’ve never been one of them. Not quite. I’ve always liked reading. Usually in the middle of one novel or another. But now something’s changed. I don’t know when. Just has.

Al Franken, Joan Didion, Elie Weisel, Jhumpa Lahiri. The Lost Language of Cranes, The Devil in the White City, A Million Little Pieces, the Kite Runner. There are more. Stacks of books consumed over the last few weeks on my bed stand, all earmarked, bloated with use, like carcasses after an overindulgent meal.

And not just in my bedroom. I carry a book everywhere. On the subway, at Starbucks as I’m waiting for coffee, on my way to work. Read-walking, entranced, in a daze. It's a miracle I haven't caused a multi-vehicle accident yet.

Maybe I’m reading too much into this. Maybe it’s just a much-needed break. From the world, from dating, from men.

Maybe this is the natural progression of life, curling up with a novel instead of a date.

Or maybe, just maybe I'm becoming a nerd.

Comments

[murraynz]

In New Zealand, I read everywhere I went. On the bus. Walking. People would recognise me as that guy that reads.

In London, everyone reads because reading is better than staring. Staring is an invitation to a knife fight.

No longer special.

Now, I carry two books with me.

[clark]

i too enjoy reading as much as i can, anywhere and everywhere...
but for some reason, i fear that mac/ipod/itunes will have downloads for "books on mp3" in the very near future, cause that seems to be where most of our society and culture is addicted to right now...
maybe then, we can try reading our books the old fashioned way while listening to another one at the same time ?!

[ryan]

interesting, I clicked on the link and the reviews make it look promising. I'll check it out when I head to Barnes later.

[Sahil]

I loved the first chapter/section of If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - pure poetry. I wish the whole book was written in the same manner.

[Aaron]

Thanks for letting the tip on "If Nobody Speaks..." Will have to check it out. Best.

[Jesse]

I fear that reading may become a lost art soon. Especially with my generation, most of my friends are art repellent. You should check out "I am not Myself These Days" by Josh Kilmer-Purcell. It's laconic and witty.

[ethan]

That's funny, just finished reading it.

[Jesse]

In that case, what are your thoughts on say, Hemingway?

[Daniel]

I am a logophile, as well. I've been writing too much, though, and it shows. Thanks for reminding me. beautiful, btw, and I mean your writing.
D

[Clive]

nerds rock
reading is only for cool people

[Anono.Blogger]

I'm on a similar reading bend, I think it has to do with a desire of introspection and solitude, "a moment for myself".

A.B.

[Paul]

Hey, I do it all the time too. Have a book with me wherever I go. Unfortunately in Malaysia, you get stares of astonishment if you read.

Paul

[avi]

lost language of cranes overwhelms me. though i hope it's not awful that i also dig the movie.

[Buzz]

Just bought the book - can't wait to start it. Thanks for the recommendation.

[coldcrab]

have you tried scott heim's mysterious skin?

[drbhvyr]

If anyone has an opportunity to pick up Claire Messud's most recently published novel; "The Emperors Children" and they consider themselves a 'maven' on plot and character development par excellence, don't miss it. Her excellence is only exceeded by all of her Reviews worldwide.

[drbhvyr]

A book that ought to be considered mandatory reading for all GLBT people is entitled: "The Most Beautiful Man in The World; Paul Swan from Wilde to Warhol" by Janis and Richard Londraville. While Paul Swan's name and work may be a contemporary enigma, he bequeathed to all of us, his gay brethren and lesbian sisters alike, a unique set of artistic accomplishments that traversed half of the 20th Century. We cannot, no, indeed we must not let his works die as he himself was forced to do - an anachronism in his own time. The gauntlet has been passed to members of this generation to make manifest the rightful assumption of his honorary place amongst the greatest American Artist of this past century.

[Jeffrey Presley]

The picture of the woman rushing off at Penn station was beautifully wrought. I've seen her, and in another form, been her, many times. Reading on the subway is one of the things I miss most about NY. A bit of advice on Joan Didion. Read all of her non-fiction, in order if you can. There's a voyeristic thrill to it, seeing what changes, what stays, what leaves. Then read her fiction if you're still enthralled. It's another layer...