It’s Time to Take a Trip

The pressure of isolation weighs upon many of us. As countless studies have confirmed, human beings do not thrive when kept apart from each other. That’s why this is the perfect time to travel.

Before you turn me over to the Quarantine Police, let me assure you that you will not need to leave your home. Though it will be helpful to have internet access, even that is not absolutely necessary for this trip. Many of you have old friends living under your own roof that you haven’t visited in years. Recently, I said “hello” to Croaker and The Lady of the Black Company novels. Though I hadn’t visited them in a number of years, my memories of them are fond ones. I treasured the dozens of hours (there are 10 books in the series!) I spent with them in my thirties. Until a few weeks ago, they were just that: memories. But with the weight of the world upon me, I decided to pay them a visit.

Generally speaking, my book philosophy has always been quite the opposite. I rarely would revisit an old favorite. But in a time when we seek comfort wherever we can find it and strive to avoid what the feelings of despair that Winston Churchill called the “black dog,” a visit to the past can be an elixir of the most potent sort. Many of us are apart from those people we hold most dear. Visiting with them over the phone, or even better, through video chat, is a tonic for the soul. But one can only chat so much. Access to our other “friends” can help fill the gap.

But it is not just a syrupy-sweet retreat to nostalgia. Reading a book at a different stage of life can open new doors. New insights may develop as we explore the plot and characters of these novels. We may begin to realize that we now look at those old friends in a new light. Some characters that once seemed heroic, may now seem foolish. Others that we once derided we may now see more sympathetically. Though it may be occasionally happen that a new sojourn into an old standby results in less enjoyment than the first go-round. Even then it is a path to a new discovery. Such a circumstance is a window into how we perceive the world differently at life’s different benchmarks (thank God we are not unchanging slabs of granite!) That too has great value.

But more likely, one will find that these old friends continue to delight: the profound roundness of “The Lady” character in the Black Company; Guy Crouchback, the enigmatic aristocrat of Evelyn Waugh’s The Sword of Honour trilogy; the heroic nerdiness of Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy’s Hunt for the Red October; the rakish wit of Locke Lamora in the Gentlemen Bastard series. These old friends help me fight off that black dog.

And if these old friends still don’t stave off the feelings of dread that accompany the coronavirus pandemic, retreat to your next redoubt: classic television. The TV series that you loved as a child, teenager, or young adult can stiffen the spine of resistance to melancholy. As a child of the 1980s, Cheers, All Creatures Great and Small, Magnum PI, and MacGyver all do the trick. Though this dip into the pool of nostalgia may not be as substantive as reading a good book, it is a salve that can work just as well.

Escapism can only take you so far. But reality can be a bit too much in these times. A healthy dive into the great stories that have enriched our lives might be the best answer to this peculiar moment in history where many of us encounter greater worries than ever before, and entirely too much time to think about them. So, let’s hit the books.

Resources for these times:

The Black Company by Glen Cook (audiobook) (eBook via Watermark) (Kindle edition)

The Sword of Honour Trilogy by Evelyn Waugh (audiobook) (Kindle edition)

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (Trade Paperback via Watermark) (eBook via Watermark) (Kindle edition) (audiobook)

Hunt for the Red October by Tom Clancy (Kindle edition) (audiobook)

Watermark Books is open for online orders, curbside pickup, and concierge orders. Call 682-1181 for details on the concierge service.

The Wichita Public Library’s digital services are still up and running, though their physical locations are closed. The same is true of the Andover Public Library.