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Read For Your Health By
Lori Lavallee, BA ’96, BEd ’99 |
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This past spring a lot of attention was devoted to National Book Day, particularly by CBC radio. A team of five panellists, including Steven Page of The Barenaked Ladies and the former Prime Minister Kim Campbell, each proposed a work of Canadian fiction that all Canadians should read. Discussions took place over a five day period and lead to the voting off of one book per day. (See http://cbc.ca/canadareads/ to listen to archives). The discussions were energetic, playful and of particular interest to me having earned a BA in English. More recently, my involvement as a book reviewer for the Lethbridge Herald has helped to renew my passion for Canadian literature. During the past year I have read a large quantity and variety of books and have not done so since I was a full-time student! It is easy to let the daily activities of our lives consume us and to lose the understanding that reading for pleasure is as essential to our well-being as exercising and eating well. Even without cable or satellite dishes, many of us watch excessive amounts of T.V. and waste hours on our computers, when we might be more fulfilled by the simple act of reading for pleasure. The rhythm and beauty of language has the ability to relax and calm us, and to surprise and challenge us. Through these experiences we are often better able to connect with our spiritual natures. One of the books that recently affected me in this way was Cynthia Flood’s Making A Stone of the Heart. The setting spanned the decades of Vancouver’s growth and settlement over the past century and involved four very different characters in these social and economic changes. Some of these situations, such as the difficulties of dealing with the aging process; aversions to nursing homes; women’s changing place in the work force; as well as Flood’s vivid descriptions of Coastal B.C., allowed me to reconnect with my late Grandmother who lived her entire life on Vancouver Island. Similarly, David Adams Richard’s Mercy Among the Children returned me to the Miramichi, a community that served as my first introduction to the Maritimes. The novel brought back my own struggles, both to define myself during those years and to understand the culture of northeastern New Brunswick. Along with offering me some mature insights into this period of my life, I found this to be Richard’s best work to date. Another New Brunswicker, Beth Powning, wrote a truly beautiful work called Shadow Child: An Apprenticeship in Love and Loss. In this non-fiction work Powning described her “back to the land” lifestyle, beginning in the early ’70s and her parallel journeys in parenthood and writerhood. The interior landscapes that she described are as beautiful as the St. Stephen area where she lived. This writer was definitely a kindred spirit on many levels, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Finally, American writer Amy Tan continued to explore the mother-daughter relationship that is central to all of her fiction, in The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Many women can directly relate to the tensions and joys that exist between the generations, between mothers and daughters and mothers and grandmothers. What was unique about this novel, however, was the book’s strong focus on the use of language and memoir. While the daughter is a writer, the main character tells her stories both orally and through her practice of Chinese calligraphy. Many other selections are lined up on my bookshelf ready for attention, including The Complete Writings of Emily Carr, who also happens to be my favourite artist. A collection of essays by Canadian writers called Writing Home; Alice Munro’s Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage; and Alistair MacLeod’s No Great Mischief are also jockeying for position. On the other hand, I’ve learned not to take reading too seriously and to indulge in some “pop-fiction” from time to time. Beverly Donofrio’s Riding In Cars With Boys and Bridget Jone’s Diary by Helen Fielding fits this category: There are times when it matters less what we read, only that we do. In this respect, reading is much like exercising: We reap mental and physical benefits by following a regular routine. Either activity is beneficial to ouroverall health, whether we engage in it five times a week for twenty minutes a session, or twice a week for an hour. Whatever program we embark on the same advice applies: Start gradually! Pick up the Saturday edition of The Globe and browse the book section. Check out used bookstores or buy from clearance tables. Learn to enjoy small chunks of reading time and use ear plugs if you need help concentrating. Take a book along on a trip and let someone else do the driving. It won’t be long before reading for pleasure will become habitual and you will find yourself increasing the depth and breath of your selections. Cross training is good! Read
for the health of it! |
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