Obligatory National LIteracy Month Post

Gordon's Graphic Novel Bookshelf
Originally uploaded by Gordon D

Recently, I was reading a group of messages on this Twitter doohickey that has all the young 'uns enraptured, and I came across this tweet from Open Books, a super cool Chicago bookstore that reminds me of one of my old St. Louis haunts.

But the challenge was to share about what reading and writing means to me, in celebration of National Literacy Month, and it's a real challenge because I'm so used to having books around, I can't imagine a time in my life without them.

My mother once told me that the day after I was born, my father purchased a copy of One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and read it to me. My earliest comic book memory was reading Superman fighting the Galactic Golem. My first CTA trip was to my paternal grandparents (who lived on 40th Place off of Archer and California), with a walk down to the Brighton Park library near Archer and Kedzie.

(At one point, I was nearly arrested for library card fraud, as I had three - count 'em, three - library cards at once. Long story).

But what books and writing gave me were a chance to improve myself. Never mind that they opened my mind to different ways of thinking...books were my way of gaining insightful knowledge, of learning how to be in this world, and were a really cheap source of entertainment.

Writing gave me the ability to express myself - from well crafted essays to poetry to high school crushes (which I hope my then-would-be-paramours have destroyed), the ability to put words together is something I treasure, and would never take for granted. (Otherwise, this blog would be nothing more than inarticulate grunting).

In an age with increasing technological advancement and sophistication in popular culture, there is something refreshing about the simplicity of words on a page...that can be read at a casual pace, without the need for electricity, or even sophisticated equipment. Between two covers is a gateway of imagination and insight, amazingly simple in design but complicated in its influence.

In the past six months, I've had interactions with two "new media" types on Twitter - one was a woman who wondered why people still went to libraries; the other was a guy who complained that Ebert was off by preferring e-books to regular books. Both of them missed the point.

It's not about being on the cutting edge - it's about sharpening that edge.

Or in other words, what would have happened if that infamous Twilight Zone episode were made in the Internet age?

More than likely, Librivox would come to the rescue.

But That's Midnight to You

Like many young men in their 20's, my reading tastes had gravitated towards the hard-boiled school of writing. Part of it was that, in that time, I had some ideal of being a knight errant - a noble loner who took on a corrupt system but would not become corrupt himself.

As many readers of this blog may be aware, I have championed Raymond Chandler's work - unlike many hard-boiled writers, Chandler's craft was just as strong as his atmospherics. His ability to write sharp one-liners while simultaneously creating a Los Angeles that could only in prose was remarkable. (So much so that I visited the city - twice - but was never able to track down what is now known as Raymond Chandler Square). It's a style of writing that seems deceptively simple...until you try to do it yourself. (And believe me, I did. Badly.)

So, heartened as I was after finishing some Robert B. Parker novels given by a fellow comics blogger (hint: he's a cute little stuffed bull), I was surprised to see that the Chicago Public Library's "One Book, One Chicago" selection as The Long Goodbye, Chander's last great novel. (Not coincidentally, several Chicago area crime writers will be blogging about the book during April as well). It's been awhile since I read it - in fact, the last time I encountered the piece was through Robert Altman's film adaptation (which I absolutely enjoy - and I do not like Altman's movies).

It's one of the many things that are an excellent reminder of why I moved back to Chicago - in fact, it's coming on my first anniversary back. An excellent book by an excellent author in a great city...but here's what I would like to encourage anyone reading to do:

• If you live in Chicago, and read this blog, and want to do one of the many discussion groups about the book, let me know. More than willing to meet more cool people.
• If you are new to Chandler, I would suggest starting with The Big Sleep and follow it with Farewell, My Lovely before tackling The Long Goodbye.
• Finally, support your local public library - not only are they great places to find good reads, but several librarians are also extremely cool bloggers.

But all in all, I'm extremely enthusiastic - it's not every day one gets to revisit one's youth.

I only hope I'm up to the challenge.

An Article of Some Interest

Don't let the title fool you - even though it's nominally about gender differences, it's also about literacy, and anything that gets people reading and thinking is way cool in my book.

Why Women Read More Than Men

Today was a good day - two really good job interviews, as well as some general cool things coming my way.

Life is good.



----------------
Now playing: Louis Prima - Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing)
via FoxyTunes