Worlds
One of the things I hold most holy is reading and writing fiction. I'm a big fan of both. I like to think of books as our own private portals to different world, that are created when the author first visits the world, and then consequently visited by every reader. Perhaps I got this idea when I first read "The never ending story", but it was not the first world I visited that I can remember.
The first world I can remember visiting is a land called Nangijala, where people in two different canyons struggle. But I suppose not to many people will have read Astrid Lindgren's 'Bröderna Lejonhjärta' (Brothers Lionheart). I can't even say I've read it myself, but my mother used to read me and my sister the Dutch translation. It's one of the first worlds that left an impression on me.
The second world to leave an impression on me, while I was in the in the 6th grade of Dutch junior school (age 10) was medieval France, where a boy named d'Artagnan (I hate the way you Americans pronounce that French name) follows his father's footsteps as a musketeer. I was with him as he was engaged in three duels, and the three opponents to be became his friends in stead. I hated him for being ensnared by the beautifull Lady the Winter, and celebrated with him when he achieved victory in the end. Around that same age I went aboard the Nautilus, and followed Phillias Fogg on his perilous journey.
It was in the first grade of secondary school, age 12, with a whole new library of worlds at my disposal, that I went with Bastian Balthazar Bux to the attic of his school, and followed him as he entered the world of Fantasia. I wept as Atreyu lost his horse and I feared when Atreyu was bitten by the giant spider. I had raised hopes when Bastian first came to Fantasia and planted the great forrest and found comeradery in the desert and was sad when I saw him decline into nepotism. When Bastian worked in the mines to refind his lost memories, the world seemed dark around me. One of the most vivid memories I have of the other worlds is when Fantasias Queen asks the keeper of the Neverending Story to read her the book, so that the cycle would repeat indefinately.
Since that time I have visited some amazing worlds. After I saw Jackson's movie, I travelled with Frodo to mount Doom and even saw the Elves fight over the Silmarils, and was present at the battle in which Morgoth was taken, and there when the isle of Numenor sank, all before Jackson's next installment came out. But also worlds of the future I have seen, and other planets. I have felt the loyalty and comeradery that Paul found among the Fremen of Arrakis. I have seen Terminus struggle to stay a stabling force as the rest of the universe declined around them. I've seen the physics defying Ringworld, and the laws of reason defying universe into which Arthur Dent was sent against his will. Even more incredible worlds I have seen, such as Discworld, the flat world held up by four elephants on top of a turtle, floating through space.
If you were to ask me, however, which world I remember best: it is the Land, the world that may or may not be an imagination in the mind of the leper Thomas Covenant. Beautiful Andelain I will never forget, nor the mysterious crafts of the Earthpower. One of the most magical moments I have ever witnessed was when the Ranihyn staggered for Thomas.
The other worlds can be engaging, even addictive. This last week, when I knew I should have been rehearsing for my math test, or keeping up my Japanese studies, I have dwelt in stead on Avalon, and seen the travails of the womenfolk there throughout the ages. And now that I've been to the library, and picked up a new portal, I will be spending the next few days back on discworld, finding out about the fifth elephant. But in truth, I cannot feel bad about it. For spending time in the other worlds enriches the soul, and crossing between them is a sacred act.
The first world I can remember visiting is a land called Nangijala, where people in two different canyons struggle. But I suppose not to many people will have read Astrid Lindgren's 'Bröderna Lejonhjärta' (Brothers Lionheart). I can't even say I've read it myself, but my mother used to read me and my sister the Dutch translation. It's one of the first worlds that left an impression on me.
The second world to leave an impression on me, while I was in the in the 6th grade of Dutch junior school (age 10) was medieval France, where a boy named d'Artagnan (I hate the way you Americans pronounce that French name) follows his father's footsteps as a musketeer. I was with him as he was engaged in three duels, and the three opponents to be became his friends in stead. I hated him for being ensnared by the beautifull Lady the Winter, and celebrated with him when he achieved victory in the end. Around that same age I went aboard the Nautilus, and followed Phillias Fogg on his perilous journey.
It was in the first grade of secondary school, age 12, with a whole new library of worlds at my disposal, that I went with Bastian Balthazar Bux to the attic of his school, and followed him as he entered the world of Fantasia. I wept as Atreyu lost his horse and I feared when Atreyu was bitten by the giant spider. I had raised hopes when Bastian first came to Fantasia and planted the great forrest and found comeradery in the desert and was sad when I saw him decline into nepotism. When Bastian worked in the mines to refind his lost memories, the world seemed dark around me. One of the most vivid memories I have of the other worlds is when Fantasias Queen asks the keeper of the Neverending Story to read her the book, so that the cycle would repeat indefinately.
Since that time I have visited some amazing worlds. After I saw Jackson's movie, I travelled with Frodo to mount Doom and even saw the Elves fight over the Silmarils, and was present at the battle in which Morgoth was taken, and there when the isle of Numenor sank, all before Jackson's next installment came out. But also worlds of the future I have seen, and other planets. I have felt the loyalty and comeradery that Paul found among the Fremen of Arrakis. I have seen Terminus struggle to stay a stabling force as the rest of the universe declined around them. I've seen the physics defying Ringworld, and the laws of reason defying universe into which Arthur Dent was sent against his will. Even more incredible worlds I have seen, such as Discworld, the flat world held up by four elephants on top of a turtle, floating through space.
If you were to ask me, however, which world I remember best: it is the Land, the world that may or may not be an imagination in the mind of the leper Thomas Covenant. Beautiful Andelain I will never forget, nor the mysterious crafts of the Earthpower. One of the most magical moments I have ever witnessed was when the Ranihyn staggered for Thomas.
The other worlds can be engaging, even addictive. This last week, when I knew I should have been rehearsing for my math test, or keeping up my Japanese studies, I have dwelt in stead on Avalon, and seen the travails of the womenfolk there throughout the ages. And now that I've been to the library, and picked up a new portal, I will be spending the next few days back on discworld, finding out about the fifth elephant. But in truth, I cannot feel bad about it. For spending time in the other worlds enriches the soul, and crossing between them is a sacred act.
posted by Redge | 20:10
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