You Can Go Home Again, When You Make Your Home in Books
25th January 2024
If you’ve returned to your childhood home or visited anywhere from your past, you’ve probably learned just how true the adage is, that you can’t go home again.
But my home, and probably yours, is as much or more inside my favorite books. They go back almost as long as I’ve been able to read. Some are warm, some are scary, some are whimsical, and all of them are comforting, in one way or another, suitable companions for a seat by the fire.
Their characters are old friends, and I’m always happy to see them again. I can wallow in their difficulties without anxiety, since I know what will become of them. I can bask in their joys, even if my own life can’t necessarily match them. And they never age — even if they die, they never really leave forever, since I can always open the book again.
Karen is one of the scary-smart people I knew at Yale.