The Thief Who Steals Books

I just got done reading an amazing book. Amazing how, you ask? Well, let me say it bluntly: It has the most beautiful imagery I have ever read. Never before have I read an author so honest, not afraid to tell it like it is. Zusak has created a world of hellish intent, that we willingly walk right into. At least, I did (yes, I am brave, ie) I just went to Knott's Scary Farm a couple weeks ago). It is a world of beautiful, awe inspiring color. I had to restrain myself from tears at a couple of points, for sake of ruining the pages. I never thought the "conversation of bullets" would ring so truly in my ear, all the way to the end of the book. It left me feeling as if I were with the character in the end. I was part of the book at one point (my nose was buried in it). My favorite line ever has now become, "Her voice was like suicide." As sadistic as this may sound, it really isn't. Markus Zusak takes what we feel is dark and dreary and makes it poetic. I can't help thinking about it still (after a week of having finished it gone by). I remember looking at the cover, where it said something to the effect of "it has the potential to be LIFE CHANGING", and scoffing. But now, a week later, my jaw is still well acquainted with the floor. 

It is a story about the beauty of the written word. It is a story about Nazi Germany. It is a story about a foster-father's love for his foster-child. It is a story about youthful passion. 

And to tell you the truth, I miss it right now.

  *Photo here is my own work.

Chaucer...What the Hell Are You Talking About?

More of a self reflection on the world around me than anything for this one, so pardon me if any of my beliefs feel a bit restrictive:

The other day, when I got out of class, it was raining. Not the kind of rain where you are running to your car soaked (my car was parked about 3 miles from the school....school parking, what a joke). It was the kind of rain that hits your cheek and traces the fine lines of your skin. I could feel the thin drops hitting my face. I could feel the cold air move through my lungs. I could only help but think, "This is beauty. This is creation, what we live for." As I stepped into my car, I could hear the patter of the fine drops of rain on the roof of my car. As I closed the door, I could hear the world around me grow dim. I was in the confines of my car, with nature knocking on the roof. It was a sweet symphony of sound, provided by nature.

Then my mind began to wander to the work of Geoffrey Chaucer.

The same Geoffrey Chaucer that confused the living hell out of me as I read him. I was sitting in my car, my hair matted against my forehead, thinking about a medieval writer. But there is so much more. I believe that at times, we as humans get lost in complexity. What if what Chaucer is saying is simple. What if he is commenting on humanity? Or certainly a social standpoint on what the world is like. I began to think of his words like the rain, trickling down from the top of my head and tickling my ear, never quite making it all the way in. Now, here in my car, lecture ideas and simple peace of mind made things so crystal clear. Chaucer's commentary was through ordinary humans. People who had a diverse outlook on life, but all shared one collective identity....being human (No duh!). For those who don't know me, I believe in God. I believe that He has a profound word in the world that is not always shrouded in complexity. He uses normal, everyday people to reach people. He is in LOVE with us as a human race. Let's try for a moment to release our conceptions of an extremely complex god who wants nothing to do with us. Let's look at the rain. Something that is so simple, yet I sat in my car for around a half hour listening to an orchestra of wind and water. God is indeed complex, but He shows us little simpletons in the most simple and beautiful way that He is present. I believe that anything may be related to this. Chaucer's words may have at first been extremely difficult to understand, but it was when I looked at them from the simplest perspective that I received them in their full richness. His words struck a chord in my heart that day. The rain became my haven. It became a place for me to connect my thoughts in blissful harmony. I finally got it, and I will ALWAYS love literature for that reason. It has a profound impact on my heart. It teaches me to love everyone around me, to think in unison. To live in simplicity, because life without simplicity is but a poor poet whose tongue is tied on his own words. This, to me, is the beauty of Chaucer's work, and all of literature at that.

I am sorry for digressing at any point.
There is so much I love about literature that my tongue becomes tied on my own words.
Thank you for reading. This was an emotional one for me. There will be more soon.

*Photo above taken by me.