The classics . . . pieces of art and history, penned by the hands of literary masters, caretakers, and keepers of words; their works have stood the test of time, remaining while all else changes . . . forever.
My childhood was filled with magic and mystery, drama and suspense. I was a time traveler and a princess, a mighty hero and a damsel in distress. I’ve flown round the world and journeyed to the center of the earth. I had grand adventures when I was young. I could go anywhere and do anything because my mother led me to a me a magical doorway, an entrance into another world.
She gave me a wonderful gift when she taught me to read, it was my key to unlock the doors of imagination and knowledge. When I was six years old I found a weathered copy of The Old Man and The Sea, I read it front to back without pause; I’ve read it many times since. The same softly covered book, printed and bound in nineteen fifty-two, holds a place of honor in not only my memory, but in my home as well. Once I stepped beyond the boundaries of everyday reality into the wondrous world of literature there was nothing I did not desire to read.
Herman Melville and Ernest Hemingway were my best friends. Shakespeare and Mark Twain accompanied me to school quite often. Hawthorne and Homer waited patiently for me at the end of each day. I’ve been to secret gardens and lived in enchanted castles. I’ve known the greatest of love and have felt the deepest of sorrow. I played with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn; I’ve even been to the moon and back again. I’ve sat along the shores of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River with the elephant’s child and pondered what the crocodile ate for diner. I bravely ventured into the mind of Poe.
I remember going to the fair with Charlotte and Templeton and investigating every mystery with the Hardy Boys. I was in the skiff with the old man Santiago and I felt the wind in my hair as I rode atop Black Beauty. My tears stained the pages where the red fern grew.
Aesop, Anderson and Kipling often joined me for lunch with James and his companions beneath the giant peach tree in the backyard. I traveled with Bilbo Baggins of Bag End and met the great wizard Gandalf. I befriended elves and fought ogres in search of the ring.
I held hands with Jesus in stories from the Bible and I was with Daniel in the lion’s den. I stood atop Mt. Ararat and gazed upon the most beautiful rainbow with Noah. I’ve been both young and old, taken many forms and seen many places. I’ve ridden high atop unicorns and slain dragons. I’ve even soared on the wings of angels.
I will forever be thankful to those who penned their dreams and fantasies, for in doing so; they bestowed upon me a treasure of great worth. I adore my books, though the pages have aged and the bindings have seen better days, I still go back to them, I visit my old friends often, adding new ones along the way. I never know where the magic door will take me or who will be my guide. It may be a quest for infinite wisdom or a marvelous retreat into days long since passed. Perhaps the future awaits my arrival on some distant star.
Who knows, maybe it lies within me, just waiting to be printed and bound . . .
Crystal R. Cook
The Qwiet Muse 
Love this post! Books are my vice too and I hope to pass this love on to my girls (at present, I can’t get Miss B into bed without at least 7 stories!!).
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It sounds like you’ve succeeded 🙂
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From what I’ve read so far, Crystal, I think being printed and bound is inked on your heart.
Blessings to all those who have penned words of inspiration and pain, which have helped us to share our own.
With thanksgiving,
Dani
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Thanks for this . . . If I could convince myself what I pen is worthy I would, maybe someday.
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You have a gorgeous blog! Thanks for dropping by my blog on Blitz Day!
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Thank you and you are most welcome! Blitz is liking finding new treasures!
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Loved to read this, my grandmother was a Librarian and now I’m following in her footsteps. If you feel you have a book in you, go for it!
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My dream job 🙂
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Me too! =D
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Scrumptious. And would you believe I only discovered AWIT last year!?!? Oh boy do I feel like I missed out! LOVED the Narnia series forever though.
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Narnia is on my list of mostest favorites 🙂
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I love them. They stay with me 🙂
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AWIT?
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A Wrinkle In Time
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Duh. I blame the awful horrible sinus pressure I am currently suffering 🙂 So now I must quote —
“Thinking I’m a moron gives people something to feel smug about,” Charles Wallace said. “Why should I disillusion them?”
― Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
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I don’t feel smug. I want to give you an Aunt Thing hug 🙂 (I only read it once, but I loved it and can’t remember all the characters and I blame 5am if I got that wrong)
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Aunt Beast 🙂 I love that book so much – I would never think you smug! I get MOST things wrong at 5am, I usually pull myself together four or five hours later though, Ha!
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If your copy of The Old Man and the Sea was “printed and bound” in 1952, you likely have a first edition. IF it still has a dust jacket, and it’s a first edition good condition, it may be worth more than you think ($1,000 in good condition with jacket?). Price depends greatly on some factors, may be worth a Google. I found a copy of Fantastic Mr. Fox on my shelf that was a first edition with jacket; definitely a pleasant surprise.
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It is a first edition, in fantastic shape considering it has spent a lifetime with me. The dust cover was sadly lost when I was little, it’s still my treasure though 🙂
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I love this. I loved books before I could even read, thanks to an amazing godmother who shared her love of reading. Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Anne of Green Gables, all the Little House books, then on to Gone With the Wind, Daisy Miller, and Pride & Prejudice. They’re all why I have a literature degree. Thanks for sharing!
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So eloquently put! Books truly are magical doors.
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Thank you 🙂
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This is one of my favourite posts of yours. It describes just how I feel about books, the authors and the characters. Where shall I travel today and with whom? Will it be with an old friend or a new one?
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Thank you 🙂 A deep passion of mine as well . . .
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I felt exactly the same way. I recall discovering the Narnia Chronicles and Madelaine L’Engle’s books. They took me to worlds that defied physics and logic. As an adult, I read less fantasy, but I can still transported to other worlds when I read novels of different times and places.
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