Further Reflections On Recent Posts…
Over the past week I’ve been reflecting on the last two weeks’ Monday posts:
Yes, exclamation marks are much in evidence, but that’s not the source of my reflections. 😀
Chiefly, I’ve been mulling further on eighty-five years and legacy – for all the reasons set out in the two posts, which is really why I wanted to write something that recognized it, as well as about the gift book that sparked everything off.
I’ve also been thinking about my personal anecdote of first reading The Hobbit, along with my not-inconsiderable resistance to doing so, and wondering if there are any larger lessons to be drawn from any of it? Such as:
Lesson the First: Don’t be a contrarian – and always be prepared to get over yourself and try the new! A lesson I’m always relearning, to be honest, although often in different contexts.
Lesson the Second: The important part libraries play in allowing readers to explore the new by offering a wide range of works, both developing young and new readers, and also enabling adult readers to both continue reading full-stop as well as to explore the new.
For example, the small country library referenced in last Monday’s post was really just a corner of the local hall, with volunteers opening it a couple of times a week. The books were provided and “rotated/renewed” by the National Library of New Zealand’s Country Library Service, so The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings would not have been permanently available.
However small, it played a vital role because our community was eighty kilometers from the nearest small town, so without the local ‘branch’ readers would have had far greater difficulty in sourcing new reading material—and my discovery of Tolkien, facilitated by a nexus of specific circumstances, might have been delayed even longer, or never happened at all. O:o…
Lesson the Third: The equally vital part parents play in encouraging and facilitating reading and learning generally in their kids. I recall my parents reading to us and encouraging us to read independently from a very early age. I am particularly mindful, too, that in The Hobbit anecdote recounted last week, my Mum was actively looking for books she thought I would like, as opposed to what she would necessarily choose for herself. She didn’t care for science fiction and fantasy, you see, but knew I did…
The Giveaway — Just ICYMI (“Eyeroll” 😀 )
The “paying it forward” giveaway (although in this case I think it may be more paying it back – even if I can’t personally account for the full 85 years of ‘back’ 😉 ) of The Hobbit / The Heir of Night is still running. Full details are here and there’ll be a reminder post before it closes, which is on August 15.
As For That Postponed WALL#4 Update – It’s Coming Very Soon!
By way of reassurance amid all these other reflections, I haven’t forgotten the WALL #4 update post that I postponed from July 7. I’ve just about finished the section I wanted to get done before updating, so if not next week (fingers crossed!), it should definitely be on for the week after.
On which note—back to the writing desk!