Read.....

I am in a book club several of us girls in the hood put together 13 years ago.  The dynamics of the group have morphed from year to year as the group has grown and changed.  There are periods of time when I don't go for several months when I am just too busy, but I always go back.  I like to read, I just can't always find the time.   I had the occasion to visit with a few boys tonight I haven't seen in a while.  The conversation turned to books and one asked me what my thoughts were on "The Brother's Karmazov".  I mostly remember I read it during one of the most difficult times in my life.  To begin with, it was a tough read (at least for me).  I remember a horrific father and of his convoluted relationships with his sons, wive and those surrounding him.  It was so much more than just one story.  I remember the suffering, but mostly of my own.   It was a depressing experience.

Sometimes music can take me right back to a single moment in time.  I was surprised tonight that a mention of a book could as well.  I should re-read it and see what it may mean to me now.  I used to read Dead Souls over and over again, but outside of that, I have shied away from Russian literature  - preferred the french.  When I was younger, I read some Flaubert, but then zeroed in on Zola.  The Drunkard was the first of his books that I consumed.  And I mean consumed.

Now my daughter is consumed with a series of books the same way I was with Zola.  I wonder how she will feel about those books if/when she re-reads them as an adult.