WatSuanDok

I look around my room, and I see hundreds of books. Books I've bought new. Books I've bought used. Books I've been given. Books I've rescued from dumpsters. Books I use for reference. Books that I'll never read. More than any other classification of book, I have "The book I want to read next," followed closely by "The book I'll finish reading eventually." And there are thousands of books I've not yet found, or are written in languages I don't know, or are not even written yet.

I had a discussion with my college roommate. Not "my best friend from college." We only roomed together sophomore year, before he transfered. My college roommate, until my senior year when I finally had a room to myself, argued that there were only a handful of stories that just kept getting told over and over. I vehemently disagreed. I've always wanted to believe that I could tell a truly original story.

I've spent quite a lot of time tearing myself apart when I read something wondrous and new, because on one hand, the more I read the more familiarities I see in even the most outlandish tale, and on the other hand I see one more amazing story that I won't be able to tell for the first time.

I just had a thought. I was watching "Meeting People is Easy," a documentary about Radiohead, and I glanced over at my pile of books and revisited the above thoughts from a totally different direction. I will never be able to read every story every written, not to mention all the stories that will be written after I'm gone, but that sense of familiarity that I feel when I read a staggeringly original first novel makes a connection between that book and every other story I've ever encountered. I've read books that author doesn't even know exist, and will never read, yet because of the connections I've made he doesn't need to encounter those stories. They're already a part of him, even if he has as voracious appetite for stories as I do.

So, I will finish the story I've been working on, and think up another. And I'll keep doing that until between writing and reading and living I've made connections to every story imaginable, which I believe is infinite. We've barely scratched the surface.

Listening to: truelovewaits (Chistopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead)
Reading The Etched City, by KJ Bishop
In progress: Spheres

I'm a web developer for NOVICA. I'm fascinated by languages, even though I only speak English and a little Spanish. I can count in Korean and have numerous language and linguistics books. I'm living within walking distance of CSUN where I share an apartment with my girlfriend and 2 cats. I'm happy. I write sporadically (I really need to finish that short story), with every intention of making a living at it at an undisclosed point in the future. I taught physics at Emperor's College Winter Term 2008. I love games and stories and music and computers and science and "and." I drink my coffee 100% black 80% of the time and 80% black 20% of the time. Also, there are other things. 7332 42
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Previous Entry :: Next Entry Mood: Thoughtful Read/Post Comments (1) Share on Facebook		2004-03-14 7:00 PM How many stories are there? I look around my room, and I see hundreds of books. Books I've bought new. Books I've bought used. Books I've been given. Books I've rescued from dumpsters. Books I use for reference. Books that I'll never read. More than any other classification of book, I have "The book I want to read next," followed closely by "The book I'll finish reading eventually." And there are thousands of books I've not yet found, or are written in languages I don't know, or are not even written yet. I had a discussion with my college roommate. Not "my best friend from college." We only roomed together sophomore year, before he transfered. My college roommate, until my senior year when I finally had a room to myself, argued that there were only a handful of stories that just kept getting told over and over. I vehemently disagreed. I've always wanted to believe that I could tell a truly original story. I've spent quite a lot of time tearing myself apart when I read something wondrous and new, because on one hand, the more I read the more familiarities I see in even the most outlandish tale, and on the other hand I see one more amazing story that I won't be able to tell for the first time. I just had a thought. I was watching "Meeting People is Easy," a documentary about Radiohead, and I glanced over at my pile of books and revisited the above thoughts from a totally different direction. I will never be able to read every story every written, not to mention all the stories that will be written after I'm gone, but that sense of familiarity that I feel when I read a staggeringly original first novel makes a connection between that book and every other story I've ever encountered. I've read books that author doesn't even know exist, and will never read, yet because of the connections I've made he doesn't need to encounter those stories. They're already a part of him, even if he has as voracious appetite for stories as I do. So, I will finish the story I've been working on, and think up another. And I'll keep doing that until between writing and reading and living I've made connections to every story imaginable, which I believe is infinite. We've barely scratched the surface. Listening to: truelovewaits (Chistopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead) Reading The Etched City, by KJ Bishop In progress: Spheres Read/Post Comments (1) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top