I borrowed a book today, from the hotel library.
I haven't read this since I was in year 10 (about 16 years old). From what I can remember, most of it is dominated by visions of the movie which starred 80s actors like Matt Dillon.
I then googled it and was horrified and shocked to know that it also starred Tom Cruise, Ralph Macchio (Karate Kid 1, 2), Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell (I had a crush on him) and Emilio Estevez.
I'm horrified because I can't believe I could forget such a legendary cast.
And I'm shocked that in my teens I didn't realise it was also directed by Francis Ford Coppola. What a noob I was.
The forgetfulness part I can put down to the constant barrage of information, crap movies and books etc. etc. that forces my brain to shut down parts it normally reserved for sacred rites in my teens such as day-dreaming, thinking and idealising. Movies and books that would make be think about my future, the future of mankind, the nature of the people around me….these used to be my touchstones. In my adulthood, I seemed to have no time for these very very human behaviours.
I guess that's why this blog exists, now. 😉
So back to the book.
I am genuinely excited to have my hands on a copy of this novel, now I get to compare what my teenage self thought and who I am today…what kind of different views I take away from reading it now.
I just hope it wasn't like that time I watched "The Labyrinth" a few years ago, thinking it'd be just like it was when I was 12….a part of my childhood died that day. A vast expanse of innocence and belief crushed forever in an eye-rolling, face-scrunching episode which I never want to repeat with other much-loved movies such as "The Neverending Story", "The Dark Crystal" or "Goonies". Let childhood memories remain gilded, cast in blinding rays of light and forever untainted by David Bowie singing "Dance, magic, dance".
Some things cannot be unseen.
Although I do suspect "Goonies" would survive the test of time.
The reason I was looking for a book?
Well, I broke my mum's e-reader a few days ago in Beijing. It's actually made me have to look for books. So perhaps this reconnection with "The Outsiders" is another moment of "Yuen Fen" (Mandarin for "Destiny that ties people together")?
What I love about books is their physical, tactile realness. I'll take an e-reader because it's necessity, not because it's a choice. If I had my choice, my e-reader would morph into a real-life book. With warm font, realiable furry paper pages, smelling of libraries and foldable covers that mold into one hand so easily while the other hand holds a cup of tea.
An e-reader is a tool. A book is a friend, a companion.
A real-life book with a real-life ability to transcend time and space with a physical and unchangeable identity.
Books make connections with other human beings that e-readers can never do. Whenever I see someone reading a book, I try to sneak a peak at the cover. I've started conversations based on what seeing the book a person's been reading.
And another thing? They travel well. With friends. And on their own.
If only they could talk.
Well, this book can, because a certain person logged it's journey.
So this copy of "The Outsiders", published in 1972, from a high-school in Colorado in the USA, has taken flight, escaped and found itself in Ulan Bator, Mongolia in 2012….and now in my hands in Lhasa, Tibet, 2013.
This 41 year old book has had quite a road trip! Who knows how it got there?
Wouldn't it be amazing to know, if more people had logged it's travels?
I take my hat off to you, Matt Ferrin, or whoever you are, for inspiring me to log the travels of the books I find.
I intend to log it's current journey, and bid it a fond farewell, and many more years of happy travels.
So whoever you are, when you pick up a book on your travels, log it's journey and share it with others.
Afterall, books are our travel companions, both physically and mentally….let's help them log their amazing journeys.
It's silent travels over the seas….where it's given joy, respite, created conversations, started "something", touched hearts, reignited dreams, kept company and sparked imaginations.
An e-reader can never do that. 🙂