Mom says each of us has a veil between ourselves and the rest of the world, like a bride wears on her wedding day, except this kind is veil is invisible. We walk around happily with these invisible veils hanging down over our faces. The world is kind of blurry, and we like it that way.
But sometimes our veils are pushed away for a few moments, like there's a wind blowing it from our faces. And when the veil lifts, we can see the world as it really is, just for a few seconds before it settles down again. We see all the beauty, and cruelty, and sadness, and love. But mostly we are happy not to.
Some people learn to lift the veil themselves. Then they don't have to depend on the wind anymore.
Rebecca Stead, When You Reach Me, 2009
Here fabric is used as a metaphor. The veil that we put between life and ourselves, to make life bearable, or understandable, or easier to deal with.
Like Gretchen Rubin, I like to read children's books for relaxation, or just to visit old friends.
This book was a happy surprise. A friend who works in publishing mentioned that I might like it, so I read it yesterday and was completely charmed. I won't divulge the plot other to say that the author references A Wrinkle In Time, a favorite book of my kids.
I always read whatever my kids were reading, and we'd talk about the books. We loved Harry Potter, as mentioned previously, but we also loved Philip Pullman's books and enjoyed non-fiction adventures as well. If you have kids, read this one with them. Then maybe re-read A Wrinkle In Time. Compare and contrast. (If you don't have kids, read it anyway.) There's a lot to talk about, and think about, in this story.
2 comments:
I jokingly say that I had children just to get to read children's books again. :)
What a coincidence. I found this book under the front seat of my car last week. Iris was about midway through it when she lost track of it. Now she can finish and I can read it.
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