Comfortable

I watched two movies today – time I should have used for writing, but hey, getting back to writing is hard and sitting in a chair in front of the TV is easy. They had similarities and differences. Both were action-adventure pieces, and both really had negligible story lines. Both either won or were nominated for several awards. One was made almost 40 years before the other, and they dealt with totally different periods – one a Western Action-Adventure, the other Modern.

But what I noticed most was the length of the shots. The Bourne Supremacy had the (now-typical) 3-second or less shots, while those of The Professionals lasted much longer in the main. For me the 1966 film provided a much more entertaining milieu. It gave me time to think, to appreciate. The rapid-fire progression of shots in 2004 film gave me no time to think, to ponder, to get to know the characters. I had to struggle to keep up with the action, making it a more passive experience. I didn’t find it very comfortable.

As well as the older movies I’ve been watching of late, I’ve begun watching more old TV programs, as well. Stuff from the late 50s, early 60s. The time taken makes the programs more enjoyable to me. Maybe I’m getting old, but I like my comfort.

Perhaps that’s why I like books: they can take the time to explore the inner workings much more readily than can film. A great actor can give you insight, make you feel what is intended for you to feel, but writing allows you to actually get inside the minds of the characters – even in action-adventure stories. It gives you time to immerse yourself, using your imagination, not forcing you to become a passive slate to which data is downloaded. And I like that. A lot.

This doesn’t mean that books are, of necessity, slow. It doesn’t mean that you can’t get totally wrapped up in a book to the exclusion of all going on around you. I recall reading Alistair MacLean’s “The Golden Rendezvous” back when I was 15. When I finished reading the book, I looked up and saw that the rest of the family had eaten supper without me. “Why?” I asked. My mother looked at me slightly askance and said, “We called you three times.” I was sitting in the living room, only twenty feet away, within sight of the dinner table; I never heard a thing.

Bringing up Alistair MacLean reminds me of my childhood friend. Geoff introduced me to MacLean. His English teacher had his class reading “Ice Station Zebra”. Mine didn’t. Geoff’s enthusiastic reports sent me to the local library to pick up a copy, thereby hooking me on the author. Being a very fast reader, I finished the book before Geoff did, though he had several days start on me.  I’ve often wondered since that time whether Geoff’s average reading speed gave him more enjoyment from books than I received by rushing through them. He received several hours of enjoyment from a book that gave me only two. Did my rapid reading of a book correspond to the short-shot films of today, while his slower reading more closely emulated the films of yesteryear?

I guess I’ll never know, but I think it’s somewhat likely, for my average reading speed has decreased considerably from the rate I read when I was in my late teens to early twenties. I now read at about the rate Geoff did then. It’s more comfortable. I’d like to ask Geoff about it, but that’s no longer in the cards, for cancer took him at the age of 40. His birthday recently passed, and thus I’ve spent a fair bit of time of late remembering him. I miss him. I think we had a true friendship. Though we saw each other seldom, when we did it was … comfortable. We didn’t see eye-to-eye on many things, but he could allow that in me, as I could in him. We didn’t have to be the same, to think the same. I don’t think we ever fought or had a heated argument. Perhaps we did and I just find it more comforting to believe otherwise. Perhaps.

Relaxing into my memories of my friend is much like Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”: comfortable. But, like Frost’s narrator, I, too, have made promises, and I must venture on.

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I guess, this would be an apt time to mention that I’ve published “Trading For the Stars” on Amazon (paperback available from CreateSpace or Amazon). Actually, it went on sale a couple of weeks ago – just prior to my friend’s birthday. I just haven’t felt much like writing since. I’ve been too much in the ‘editor’ frame of mind. I also re-edited “A Throne At Stake” and it, too, is now available in paperback.