So I just finished reading this ridiculously good book - seriously, I didn't know authors even wrote this good anymore! (If you ever want a good read, look up Carlos Ruiz Zafon - read The Shadows of the Wind first and then The Angel's Game, which is the one I just finished.) The end was really bittersweet and because I spent 531 pages with the very engaging characters, I naturally had a visceral reaction. Alex came home from his hockey game and I was BAWLING - not just a few tears, but a complete, all-out bawl-fest, snot and everything. Of course at first he thought something was really wrong, so I was trying to explain but every time I started talking I started bawling again - it was just so friggin' sad!!! So when he finally figured out what was going on, he stared at me without blinking for a few seconds, then went out to his truck to bring in his gear. If you're missing the Y chromosome like I am, then you'll understand - his reaction pissed me off. No, I'm not just a hormonal female - I am, in fact, a passionate lover of good literature and I can't help it if I become completely immersed in a book. I won't apologize for it, either. So there.
I made one more unsuccessful attempt to get across the gravity of the novel in 500 words or less...and he rolled his eyes and went to take a shower (which was a blessing because he stunk like...you guessed it, nasty hockey gear). Agitated as I was, I yelled through the bathroom door, "Well if YOU knew anything about passionately loving someone, you would understand!" Probably unfair given that he's a very good hubby who never neglects to remind me that he loves me. But I wallowed for awhile about how no one would do for me what the novel's hero did for the love of his life (despite the fact that she married his best friend).
I grumped around for awhile and still a little weepy, I sat on the floor where my cat was beckoning for a belly rub. As I indulged him, I looked him right in the eyes and he looked intently back at me as if to say, "Don't worry mom, I understand." Which is why animals make the best soulmates in the world. In the midst of their humans' bizarre reactions to literature and other seemingly inane stimuli, they understand that we are merely experiencing primal emotional instincts. That's what I think anyway, but I'm not the cat whisperer or anything so what do I know?
t.
1. I have the same reaction to literature, but even more so to music...I am incredibly and viscerally affected by music, so I understand.
ReplyDelete2. Animals are so much wiser than humans. And there's something about a kitty's love and reassurance of his love that just can't be achieved by humans, prob cuz animals need us ways very different than humans need other humans.
3. I'm glad Alex showered and emerged clean and to a wife with better perspective.