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What Books Can Do -- And What They Can't
April 18, 2007
Yesterday, my friend and colleague Carol Fitzgerald sent me this blog entry she wrote about how Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes had influenced her perspective on the recent Virginia Tech tragedy. It's a beautiful example of what books can do, and do best -- widen our own perspectives on the world.
My heart goes out to the victims, to everyone in Blacksburg, and to all of the affected friends and family around the country.
I found myself thinking again about Carol's post and how books influence us all when I saw a line from Isak Dinesen on The Writer's Almanac: "All sorrows can be borne, if you put them into a story."
I pray that someday someone is able to put the huge weight of this massacre's sorrows into a story, and that it will help many people to bear it. Cho Seung-Hui was an English major, and he put many of his disturbed thoughts into poetry and plays. His professors, like English Department Chair Lucinda Roy, saw that his own stories were full of sorrows that could not be explained by words -- they recommended counselling, and it is tragic, too, that Cho did not receive any.
Cho, disturbed as he was, tried to use the power of words -- and failed. Which is why I wonder less about the impact of gun control on this situation than I wonder about the impact of intervention. I'm not saying that gun control isn't relevant -- just that my thoughts are focused on how difficult it is for us to get help to those suffering from mental illness.
In the meantime, I hope that those in mourning don't give up on poetry, plays, and novels as comfort and as ways through to peace.
Posted by Bethanne Patrick on April 18, 2007 | Comments (8)
