Renewal of Spring

Earlier today one of my students surprised me by asking "Why haven't you posted lately on your blog."

That was a first and tonight I clicked on the link to this blog and discovered how right he was. The last entry was dated in February.

I have read a few books but not as many as some people might think. Some folks think I read all the time because I teach English and also have a fancy degree. But that is not so. Demands of family and profession limit the time I can actually read. Often during the school year, I don't read new books. I reread old friends because at the end of the day, I am too tired to focus on an unfamiliar plot, or to meet characters I don't already know very well. I love rereading books because I always find something new, something that creates echoes of association.

And in some ways, the book being reread is new because I am not the same person I was when I first read the book. For example, when I first read Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night" I focused on the character of Viola and her hidden love of Orsino. I imagined being her -- trying to live a double life as a man, trying to fit in. Now as I read the play, I focus on Feste and Antonio because both seem to be wanderers through the world who must survive by their agile wits, and who are willing to endanger themselves for friends. I have moved past the drama of love and into a more platonic realm.

Also today a different student asked what book I would want with me on a desert island. Certainly not the "Bible." I would want a collection of all of Shakespeare's work or Chaucer or maybe Tolkien. But scholarly editions with lots of notes, commentary, and discussion so I could have a dialogue with not just Chaucer, Shakespeare, or Tolkien but all those whose interpretations frame the texts. No, I take that back. I would still want the huge scholarly tome, but I would not read the commentary. I would stay with the sweep and scope of the original texts. There is where the truth lies and not in the ragings of various critics.

So now I have updated this blog and maybe this will satisfy the first student who announced my truancy and surprised me with his curiosity.