Literary lust

I've been quiet with the blog these last couple of days. It's not that I haven't had anything to say but I've been focused elsewhere. I haven't even logged onto World of Warcraft yet this week. What has been keeping me so occupied? Literary Lust. 

I go through these periods occasionally. Literary lust is a brief passionate affair with an author. Okay now before you talk to me about monogamy and Jeff's feelings, don't worry. Basically these periods mean that all I do is read every piece of writing by a particular author that I can get my hands on. And I mean all I do. No housework, little time with Jeff. Heck, its tough to make myself go to work. And the poor cat keeps looking at me as if she hates me. 

I have had literary affairs with John Irving, Jane Austen, Christopher Moore, Neil Gaiman, E.M. Forester, to name a few. These affairs tend to last a couple weeks, until I have exhausted all the books by an author or until I move on to another writer. My current lust is actually an old passion. I picked up a book of short stories by Ray Bradbury and fell all over again. If you can possibly read "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed" and not be amazing by the man, explain it to me. Show me where "The Veldt" didn't have enough tension for you. Read Fahrenheit 451 and tell me you are not moved. And then read Dandelion Wine and tell me you are not nostalgic for a time you never lived in. 

I have been reading passionately this past week. Barely pulling myself away to eat. And I love food, almost as much as reading. This lust period is a little different though. I actually mixed in a different author today. Stuck at work with no book, I went online to www.literature-network.com. This site is a free website that offers public domain stories in full text. I picked Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte because a friend had recommended it.Anyone who tells you that the classics are boring have not read this book. Stabbings, insanity, false marriage proposals, fires, and orphans make for exciting reading. I devoured it in two days. I still have not gotten to the library to pick up The Illustrated Man to resume my passion. I have had a taste of the book and need to finish. And then perhaps this Bradbury affair will again be replaced. I don't stay in one place long, at least reading-wise. Until then I will awe at the far-off worlds, tense moments, and pure horror that Bradbury can create in a well crafted paragraph. If you have never read him, pick up Something Wicked This Way Comes. I guarantee you will be hooked.