My favorite books

Today, I got the chance to read from my two favorite books for a bit.  I love these books so much, and I have for many years.  Because I love them so much, I always want to talk about them, but whenever I try, they sound silly.  Maybe they are, but to me, they are incredible.  The first is called These is My Words.  I love this book because it's different than most love stories.  It's not about a couple falling in love, its about their life together.  It doesn't fit the formulaic rising action, climax, resolution.  It's steady, just like real life.  I think it's an incredible story.

The second is called The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  I read it for the amazing descriptions of love and loneliness.  Nicole Krauss takes ordinary bits of daily life and makes them beautiful.  Here is one of my absolute favorite parts of the book, called The Birth of Feeling.

Just as there was a first instant when someone rubbed two sticks together to make a spark, there was a first time joy was felt, and a first time for sadness.  For a while, new feelings were being invented all the time.  Desire was born early, as was regret.  When stubbornness was felt for the first time, it started a chain reaction, creating the feeling of resentment on the one hand, and alienation and loneliness on the other… Contrary to logic, the feeling of surprise wasn’t born immediately.  It only came after people had enough time to get used to things as they were.  And when enough time had passed, and someone felt the first feeling of surprise, someone, somewhere else, felt the first pang of nostalgia…

            Having begun to feel, people’s desire to feel grew.  They wanted to feel more, feel deeper, despite how much it sometimes hurt.  People became addicted to feeling.  They struggled to uncover new emotions.  It’s possible that this is how art was born.  New kinds of joy were forged, along with new kinds of sadness: The eternal disappointment of life as it is; the relief of unexpected reprieve; the fear of dying.