Old Books, Good Friends
On a lighter note, Teresa started rereading one of our favorite series of novels, and I followed suit. We’ve been fans of David & Leigh Eddings for a long time enjoying The Belgariad books and the same host of characters into The Mallorean books. We’ve often read his two related trilogies, The Ellinium and The Tamuli. He’s a masterful story teller, so much that we even read Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress, both retellings of each other and much the previous books. Can’t get enough! One scene in The Ellinium caused me to shout in surprise and almost throw the book the first time I read it. Good stuff.
Digging into the first book of The Belgariad I was struck by a re-introduction to one of the main characters, Durnik the Smith. I would have thought, being the tenth time I’ve read this series over the years, that I couldn’t be surprised by anything. But I had not thought of Durnik in so long, it was like reconnecting with an old friend. Sound silly? We are big re-readers at our house, Teresa and I both. Rereading beloved books series is a comfort. This time is was also a welcome reunion.
Have you reread anything lately? Do you operate with the kind of imagination that relates to the most beloved characters on a level close to friendship and deep affection? Jumping into these novels again has reaffirmed for me the gifting with which some novelists have blessed my life. Of course, the characters are fictional, but the blessing of sharing imagination and fantasy with the likes David & Leigh Eddings, R.A. Salvatore and Frank Herbert over the years has been a tangible, palpable joy.
AMDG, Todd
toddthomas.net 
August 19, 2014 at 11:56 pm
Brother like you I have always been a reader. I enjoy fiction as well as nonfiction and my likes run the gamut. One of my favorite novels that I have read several times is Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It’s not that I identify with a particular character or plot, of which there are several, as odd as it may seem I find encouragment and inner strength every time I read it. Enough said.
On the lighter side. My favorite sci-fi author is Robert Heinlein. He created an idea of earth and society that runs prevelant through several of his novels. One favorite is Stranger in a Strange Land. The phrase ” pay it forward” has become popular as of late. That is a quote from the teachings of Michael Smith. My most loved character of his is Lazarus Long. He has lived so long that almost everyone on earth or one of it’s colonies can call him grandpa. The book I refer to is Time Enough for Love. A classic.
I will stop there for now. Love you brother. GROK !
August 20, 2014 at 7:22 am
You know brother, I was a late reader. I remember watching you read was I was much younger, but I didn’t get into reading for pleasure until I lived on the Kenyan coast in ’89 & ’90. No internet, no TV and not much else to do but read in my down time. There was a variety store in Malindi with a used book exchange program to swap and share novels, I joined the Tawfiq Muslim youth library, and I could buy new and used paperbacks at a shop in Mombasa. I read most anything I could find. I jumped into horror with both feet, loving the work of Stephen King and even more the work of James Herbert. I also picked up Frank Herbert’s Dune, which I knew was one you had read, and ended up reading all six books, and I’ve read the series through at least five or six times since those days. I’ll look around for Heinlein and slip him into my book stack! Peace brother, and much love back at ya.