The creation vs. the creator

The Fault in Our Stars depicts a young girl battling cancer. (Yes, I have written about this work before, but with a different focus.) In her struggle, she makes a friend in a cancer youth group and passes on to him her love for a certain novel. He sprouts the idea of a visit to the author in Amsterdam where the author is less than receptive to them. Actually, the author is abominably rude. It is a horrible experience, not to mention a total waste of mega-monies, for the suffering youths.

I wonder how many people have encountered a writer or other creative whose work they respect only to be drastically disappointed when they meet the individual in some kind of personal encounter? Or on a flip side, maybe they liked a celebrity only to be put off by something they later wrote.

Both scenarios have been mine. What I learned is that liking someone’s work/public celebrity persona doesn’t necessarily translate to a connection with who they actually are. In a way, it is freeing to know I can appreciate gifting without feeling any kind of need or commitment to like the source on a one on one basis.

So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.

Dr. Seuss [Theodor Geisel]

Friend relief

One day you find yourself battered by one you friended on Facebook. To hide their constant unwelcome chatter apparently all you have to do is unfollow and their posts no longer display in you feed. Relief!

A pearl of a find

I’ve made progress since I started my book thinning program last December, yes. But I’m still trying to let go of more of my many books. A new digital find has helped. along the lines of Netflix for videos is Oyster for books. For a mere $9.95 a month you can read as many of their 500,000+ books as you wish. And since they are digital, they won’t clutter your home!