Through Me

GlennSotraz Haziran 24, 2022

When KD Lang sang her amazing version of Hallelujah at the Olympic Opening Ceremony, one of the comments I heard was, "I felt like she was not only singing to me, she was singing through me. She filled me up to overflowing." Wow. What a compliment!

As a writer, I'd like to do that one day. Write so someone feels like I've written to them, through them. Filled them up to overflowing.

Again, wow.

I think some books have done that for me. In all different genres, at all different points in my life. The Hobbit was life-changing for me. It was the first fantasy I'd read. It opened up... well, everything. About the same time I discovered Star Trek reruns on TV. Between the two, entire worlds (literally!) opened up. My imagination opened with them.

As a teen, I remember reading Fahrenheit 451 in high school. Another wow for me. Book burning, wall sized interactive TV sets, loss of imagination and intelligence.

Then I read Flowers for Algernon - which I always call Charly. My heart broke. The author's control over the language amazed me. Charly's growth and deterioration throughout the book shattered me. How could they? How could he bear it?

Shakespeare. Even though I found Hamlet a wimpy dolt, the power of his 'To be or not to be' soliloquy riveted me. The deep thoughts. The beautiful cadence of the words to express such sadness, such worry. Then the power of one over the mob in Julius Caesar. The agony of Othello. The trickery of Iago.

Anne McCaffrey & her world of Pern and her ship who sings. Nora Roberts/JD Robb and the incredibly human characters she creates - full of such passion and depth. Suzanne Brockmann and her wonderfully diverse band of troubleshooters - where love, loyalty & justice are the most powerful weapons against hate.

Finally the power of few words fills me. At least when those words carry weight.