A little while ago I posted several articles on an event "Reading In The Park" and wanted to take the time now to go over several lessons that can be taken away from this series.
#2: Not Everything is often as it Appears.
sourceWhat I really wanted to do was curse this woman and her stupidity, what I did, I think, was much better. I grabbed a spare blanket, invited her to sit with me, then putting my book away said, "If you think this book is bad you should check out this one." I pulled out another paperback book, this one covered in brown paper least I should offend anyone while reading it. She was intrigued and curious as I explained that this book contained all sorts of stuff far worse than anything Steinbeck ever wrote.
Sometimes, if we don't know what an item is we can still be open to liking it. Our likes and dislikes are a combination of factors that have been presented to us over our lifetime of experiences. If, suddenly, we are presented with an unknown the human spirit will automatically begin to investigate it.
I opened the book...and began to summarize different stories in it. I told her the story of a king who used a witch's grimoire to call demons to help him build a temple (witchcraft); of a father who, rather than giving up two men to be raped and tortured by an out of control mob offered his daughters instead (homosexuality); and of some of the most lude, crude, lascivious, poetry I have ever read (pornography). It was at this point that the woman snatched the book from my hands, and upon seeing what I was reading from, slammed the book closed, threw it in my face and stomped off. As she marched away I yelled after her, "Perhaps next time you want to burn books you'll start with this one!
I suppose I had a bit too much fun at the woman's expense, but hopefully the experience was enough of an eye opener that she would think twice about wantonly suggesting the burning of books.
Want to know the title of the example book? Interested in reading the full article? Click HERE