Transport to Unknown Places

Rebecca Solnit, in her beautiful meditation on the life-saving vanishing act of reading, wrote: “I disappeared into books when I was very young, disappeared into them like someone running into the woods.” Oliver disappeared into both. For her, the woods were not a metaphor but a locale of self-salvation — she found respite from the brutality of the real world in the benediction of two parallel sacred worlds: nature and literature. She vanished into the woods, where she found “beauty and interest and mystery,” and she vanished into books. In a sentiment that calls to mind Kafka’s unforgettable assertion that “a book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us,” Oliver writes:

"I disappeared into books when I was very young,

disappeared into them like someone running into the woods."

Rebecca  Solnit

Mary Oliver shared her practice of reading as 'self-salvation'.  To avoid the harshness of life she emerged into books while deep in the woods.  There she was inspired by both her reading and nature. When she would vanish into her sacred world of trees and literature, she found "beauty, interest  and mystery". 

Franz Kafka was a 20th century major literary figure.  He was a German speaking  Bohemianand Jewish novelist. One of his well known quotes:  "A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us."  His work reflected the need to master the worlds within us and how reading became a tool to explore inner worlds.

Books became my sacred space even when I could not read the words.  I can easily recall the joy of turning pages and holding the book knowing it would transport me to unknown places. I have  been an avid reader for as long as I can remember.   With honor and respect, I explore numerous authors in various subjects as the shared information triggers a journey of my own.

An article from BRAIN PICKINGS by Mary Popova prompted this writing.