My favorite books often contain some insidious and hidden twist that comes to light in the matter-of-fact revelation of a few obscured words. I love when a writer detonates such bombs in the otherwise calm and tranquil seas of their prose. These aren’t major things – just little hints to character and history that lend shading and nuance to the story and description at hand. One doesn’t usually realize they’ve exploded until something in the future recalls it to life, and by then it’s too late to be suspect. I can’t think of any concrete examples right now, but the next time I find one I’ll try to post it.
Such hints can be found during anyone’s average day, though they are usually too subtle to be seen. That’s why I like words. They can extract more than a photograph or a melody. They extract less too, which only makes me love them more. Devastatingly devious, they can go unnoticed when put forth in simple, flippant form. Like the recent work day in which I almost had three distinctive panic attacks, and in some artfully-constructed bit of cosmic confluence I felt sudden and unavoidable failure at every turn. I’m still not quite sure how I made it through that day without incident. I was trying to tell Andy about it but we almost got in a car accident, after which he never asked anything more.
The book sits in deceptive peace. Its pages are silent and still but within is contained all the turmoil, anguish and terror of a ruthless world. The best authors do what they can to keep it between the covers, to encapsulate the stories within beautiful bookends. They put it all down in words in some vain attempt to trap and confine the evil to paper. A physical manifestation – because otherwise how does one destroy darkness?
These ruminations are worthy of nothing more than passing Halloween fancy. We won’t go nearly as close to the macabre as Edgar Allen Poe dared. We shall stay to the well-lit paths when we seek our candy, stopping only at the illuminated houses our parents deem safe. It gets dark so early now. I do love the fall, but it does get dark so early. So, so early…
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