The (sort of) Great American Read

There’s a Thanksgiving tradition that my family has never practiced but I’ve always liked and that is the sitting around the Thanksgiving table, and each person takes a turn saying one thing they’re thankful for. I’m sure for the families out there who practice this tradition, you hear things like “I’m thankful for my parents or spouse or friends or children or health.” (Or, in the case of my son, he’d probably say he’s thankful for milk. He loves milk. He drinks a gallon every two days, which may account for why he, at only two, is countertop height.)

All these things are great. They really are, friends and milk alike, but you want to know what I’m really thankful for? Books. Good books. I love book and I’m glad there are authors out there who continually produce them. There’s nothing like a great story to open your imagination and suck you into a different world, quietly, without laser beams and explosions and scoring blowing out your surround sound. Books are life’s quiet entertainment.

And according to a recent vote, most Americans agree that reading is a favorite pastime, which is great news to a writer. However, what they read is subject to question.

PBS recently released the results for their Great American Read survey, in which people voted on their most beloved book. According to the results To Kill a Mockingbird ranked number one, and I couldn’t agree more. Though it’s not my favorite book, it’s extremely high on my list, and I do believe it’s among the most perfect and finest novels ever written. The message, the writing, down to the technical aspects of what it takes to manufacture an incredible story are all rich and structured and well told. You really can’t beat it. That it ranked number one keeps my faith in humanity alive.

What does not are numbers 73 and 86 on the list, The Twilight Saga and Fifty Shades of Grey series, respectively.

Why these two are even allowed to occupy the same list as To Kill a Mockingbird or The Grapes of Wrath or Frankenstein or any of the other classics is beyond me.

And while most of you might think I’m being funny or joking or kidding, I’m kind of not. One could argue the merits of The Twilight Saga because Stephanie Meyer is a mediocre writer who had moments, though few, in her books, but Fifty Shades is just trash. Seriously, not one credible author speaks of her work otherwise. It’s terrible. How it achieved international success is beyond me. And I’m not talking about the content, which I’m guessing a lot of people find questionable. I don’t. I’m very liberal in my reading and writing and enjoy and tolerate and handle and support any content so long as it pushes the story forward or brings it more to life, but what I can’t handle is truly horrible writing that masqueraded a story of abuse as eroticism. I’m not a reader of eroticism, but there are authors out there who handle it beautifully. Anne Rice is one.

How this competition, if you want to call it that, worked was PBS preselected hundreds of titles, ranging from recent works like The Martian to age-old classics, then readers voted on which book they liked the best, reducing the list down to the top one hundred and whichever book had the most votes was selected as number one, To Kill a Mockingbird. My question is why Fifty Shades was even on this list in the first place.

I can’t remember where, but I once read an interesting article that proposed you can assess a culture’s level of advancement (or how “civilized” it is) by its entertainment. And I have to say, for the most part, I agree. There was a time in history where we fed people to lions in coliseums and practiced public executions. Even the first battle of the Civil War had spectators. For all the world’s problems we at least no longer do either, proving that we’ve advanced and no longer cheer over blood and guts and human suffering.

And I get the temptation to look and peek and spy, and that’s what a good book allows readers to do: catch a glimpse into a profound world. And part of the thrill of reading is the anticipation of what you will find and experience.

You might get frightened, you might laugh, you might cry, you might find peace or comfort or joy or love but no matter what, you’ll be thankful for whatever you find.

And that is what I’m thankful for.

Editor’s Note: By the way, today is my son’s birthday. Happy Birthday Cole!!!

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