Ugly Twists, Beauty in the Ordinary
The ugliest person I know is actually someone who is externally attractive. Actually, the three ugliest people I know are all quite attractive by conventional standards.
Two of the least compassionate or kind people I have ever known have worn clerical collars. I shared on this blog quite some time ago that when I was pregnant with Oldest, I didn't yet know I had Crohn's and had gotten quite sick and had extensive abdominal x-rays while days pregnant (before I knew). I was urged to consider not having the baby, and I went to talk to a priest at the time (this was over two decades ago before I ran the other way from religion). He was vicious in his condemnation of the thought, despite the risks to me, and horribly unkind to me, even as I was so sick . . . and then he died two weeks later of AIDS complicated by alcoholism--all the while his soul sickness had blinded him to any compassion for me. Here I was, with so many gay friends, and here the closet had turned him into a hateful and small man.
On the flip side, I think some of the people in my life are beautiful beyond belief because they glow from within. I don't know if everyone sees it. Maybe you need special glasses, kind of like 3D glasses.
If only life were that simple. Put on the magic glasses and see the ugly behind the beautiful, and see the beautiful behind the ordinary.
I think that's where love comes in. You get those magic glasses. Pirate Boy is kind of like having my own personal set of magic glasses. This is the boy who thinks worms are the most beautiful creatures on earth. He sees the beauty in the lowliest of creation in the mud.
I think that's also where authenticity comes in, too. You get those magic glasses so you're not fooled by the pretty veneers that hide petty hearts. You aren't fooled by fancy cars. Money. Or job titles. You see behind the social niceties to who people really are.
And the best books, for me, are those that pull you into a world where someone discovers conspiracy or what lies beneath. It's tough to pull off! Especially since we're all so jaded and sometimes go into a book TRYING to guess who the real bad guys are, and who the real good guys are.
What was the last book that blew you away with a surprise like that? I don't read him, but the ONLY James Patterson I ever read, years ago, Kiss the Girls . . . um, wasn't expecting that. Snape is another one . . . a character who wasn't what he seemed.
How about you? What have been some of the best characters that fooled you?
10 comments:
I'm easily fooled except I always knew there was something about Snape. Part of it was because the actor seemed to be clutching a secret. Granted actors can get it wrong but I knew Rowling had told many of them their secrets early on before she got so famous.
At the end of book 6, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt except I didn't know what nor how nor did I want to guess. I don't want to be smarter than the author, I want to enjoy her talent.
Richmond:
I always think that actor looks sardonic, or like he has a secret.
Funny . . . it NEVER bothers me to know the end or the twist, because then I spend it trying to see how the author or filmmaker pulls it off. Like going to a magic show. You KNOW they're going to saw her in half, but you try to figure it out.
The most recent book that fooled me was OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Stout. I started the book four times and put it down because I loathed Olive, and the book was named for her, it was clearly about her, and she was so disagreeable. She treated her husband and the few friends she had horribly, and was a grouchy Jr. High math teacher (I had a few of those). If I hadn't made a pact with myself that I was going to finish every book I started because there is something to learn even from what you hate, I would have deleted it from my Kindle and moved on.
So, I opened it up a fifth time and tromped on through. By the end of the book, I ended up liking her - because it took the whole length of the book for the author to reveal the events that created her prickly personality.
I was really blown away that I liked her and could even identify with her.
Beth:
I think that must be the trickiest of all feats to pull off for a writer, because if people really dislike a main character they will put it down. To me, it's a testament to word-of-mouth when a lot of readers then urge others to "stick with it" and finish for that satisfactory pay-off.
I just read Up From The Blue by Susan Henderson. It grabbed me from page 1 and I knew who the bad guy was all the way through. Except I was wrong. What I learned is that sometimes the behaviors of those around the "villain" change because of those actions - but those folks are really the good guys, just doing their best to let good win out over evil.
I loved the book. It's what I call a crazy-mother book; based on the relationship or perceived, unhealthy relationship of a crazy mother and her child(ren).
Amy:
I will definitely check it out. That actually sounds like my kind of book.
Europe of Foundling, Lamplighter, and Factotum.
She comes off as this pretty, yet selfish and even cold monster slaying badass then as the main character spends more time with her, this facade fades out a little and becomes much softer than you expect. She's strong, yet oddly kind and even motherly at times.
Johnny:
Don't know the character, but I love ones that start hard and then you see this other side. Have you ever read any of the Andrew Vachss Burke books?
I'm thankful that I've somehow developed good radar for detecting the bad eggs. I don't care what you have, what you do, or what you look like -- if you're mean, petty, or anything that doesn't mesh with how I live my life, I don't want anything to do with you.
melanie:
Amen to that.
I used to have a good radar detector. Then when I immersed myself into Buddhism and religious studies more, I was very much about being open all the time. That can be a double-edged sword. I am now much more closed and quiet.
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