What Does Literature Mean to Me?

What does literature mean to me?  As I was contemplating this question, I came up with a number of thoughts with one common theme: connection.  Many years ago, I took the Strengths Finder survey where Connectedness was identified as one of my top five strengths.  According to Tom Rath, author of Strengths Finder 2.0, connectedness implies “we are part of something larger…we are not isolated from one another or from the earth and the life on it.”   In my life, literature is connection…connection to my past, to my family, to the world around me and even a connection to myself.  

Growing up in Cedar Falls, Iowa, a town of about 30,000, was rich in its simplicity.  Many of the habits I formed as a child and young adult are still with me today (for better and for worse!).  I was reading all of the time and so were the important people in my life – my mom, her sister and my step-dad.  Summertime in Cedar Falls centered around Ray Edwards, the local swimming pool, and the library.  My siblings and I rode our bikes 1.5 miles to the library at least once a week to stay current with the summer reading program.  One summer, we were pictured on the front page of the local paper reading our books as we lounged on a large stuffed animal.  I can still see that picture in my mind’s eye.  Thinking back, two books stand out in my memory from those early years:  A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry and Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.  I read both of those books multiple times even though I was so torn up by the death of Molly in A Summer to Die and Billy’s dogs in Where the Red Fern Grows.  Maybe this was an outlet for my own emotions… a connection to my own sadness that I buried deep inside of not only riding my bike to the library, but also between two homes. 

Over time, my love for the Cedar Falls Public Library was transferred to the Cedar Falls High School library, where I discovered Danielle Steel and Stephen King and spent breaks between classes sitting in the library’s small sitting area reading.  It was in high school where I was exposed to more serious literature by Mrs. Vance, my Great Books teacher.  She introduced me to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Machiavelli to name a few.  This laid the foundation for an interest in the classics that blossomed after graduating college and moving to Seattle.  My first apartment was a studio on lower Queen Anne, right by the Space Needle, and across the street was a used bookstore.  During this time, my aunt introduced me to Barbara Kingsolver and her great storytelling through eclectic modern day novels of which The Poisonwood Bible is one of my favorites.  As I reflect on my young adult life, I can see myself, book in hand, frequenting coffee shops and restaurants throughout Seattle.  Similar to the power music has to take us back to an experience, literature keeps me connected to these precious people and experiences.  

The love of literature is also a connecting point with my kids.  For years, we have closed each day over a good book while cuddling on the couch and speculating about the next twist of the story.  My son and I devoured the Chronicles of Narnia series, Jack London’s Call of the Wild and White Fang, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer along with historical fiction like Johnny Tremain. This ritual continues today with my nine-year-old daughter.  Last year, we delighted in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series, which inspired a family road trip to western Minnesota and South Dakota this past fall.  The books gave new meaning to the stark South Dakota landscape.  The expansive, uninterrupted, flat prairie became the path Laura and her sisters walked to school from their claim shanty.  The small town, which felt lifeless to us during our visit, was once the lively place where young people gathered and where the family sheltered during The Long Winter.  We often compare the pioneering life with our modern lives and marvel at the ease modern inventions have brought to our lives.  At the same time, there is a longing in our hearts for the sense of community, neighborly connection and interdependence the pioneers shared and needed for their very survival. 

I’m also grateful for the connection literature has brought to my relationships with my adult kids. Over the past few years, one of our daughters has developed a love for reading.  She introduced me to the Goodreads app, where she shares her latest finds in contemporary selections. One Sunday this past fall, she rushed into our house flush with excitement to tell us about the book she had just finished – Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi.  She passed her copy to me and shortly thereafter, I read it in a weekend.  My new daughter-in-law and I also connect through literature.  We love non-fiction books that help explain and contextualize the work of science and medicine.  From The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to The Hot Zone, these books are thrilling and shocking and read like a work of fiction.  I treasure the way literature has brought depth and strength to these relationships.  

Each day is a new opportunity for me to refresh through literature. Reading is my favorite past time.  Diving into a wonderful piece of literature is my way to relax, learn and entertain myself.  Even more important, literature connects me to my faith.  I start each day in the Bible and with a daily devotion.  I complement that with books that explain and reflect upon scripture.  Through books of historical fiction like, The Galileans: A Novel of Mary Magdalene by Frank Slaughter, I learn about the context of these ancient times, people and events.

In writing this piece, I realize how important literature has been to building connections in my life….connections to people and to experiences.  Putting this on paper has been a sweet exercise.  I’m betting you will come away with a bit of new thinking about the impact of literature in your own life and maybe even find some new titles to check out too.