Winter Reads: 7 Books to Give You the Feel of the Season
The cold was coming, and your coursemates looked forward to it. But you're not. They asked you about the books to read during the winter. But your thoughts turned to summer. They loved the cold, they loved the romance of it. You agreed with them, but you have another recollection.
It was a muggy evening, as you and your buddies were giggling after the usher gave you a stern look. The usher was doing his job, also reminding moviegoers to observe health protocol. You don't recall the last time you've been to a movie theater, so you and your friends could be forgiven. You watched "Black Widow" - and you were quite disappointed. It was a backstory, which seemed better off on the small screen. And Marvel Studios should've made this movie a decade ago. One of your buddies, who read all the reviews (prior to watching it), remembered one review that gave him the creeps. This reviewer missed the sensuous cough-syrup purr of Scarlett Johansson's voice, which was overshadowed by Florence Pugh's Russian accent. (You find it rather strange, but you haven't set foot in Russia.) When your coursemates learned about your distracting thought, they grinned. Not one of them wanted to see that movie, but they argued about how Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would turn out. (One of them insisted that Kevin Feige was thinking about the Young Avengers while the other guessed something else. Dark Avengers. The latter seemed right.) You were amused when they sounded quite desperate about winter reads, though.
"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" perfectly matched the story to the season, as the cruel White Witch kept Narnia in perpetual winter. You liked it. (You can stay up all night while listening to the blizzard.) C.S. Lewis didn't guise his religious beliefs while writing this fantasy novel, but you don't mind at all. As a matter of fact, you don't have a clue when your mother read it to you. The snow brought melancholy, but it didn't turn you off. You read too many fantasy stories, and a definite pattern exists. The characters walk through the dark tunnel, and then they see the light at the end of it. Predictable, but it would give you a good feeling. You're curious about what your friends would recommend for everyone.
How the Cold Can Spark an Intellectual Awakening
"Through a Glass, Darkly" by Jostein Gaarder. Christian, whose parents hailed from Bergen, Norway, recommended this strange, if not uplifting, novel. Cecilia was too young to be dealing with terminal cancer while Ariel, an angel (and frequent night visitor), would teach her the meaning of life. Jostein Gaarder is renowned for children's books, but Christian pointed out that "The Castle in the Pyrenees" starred adults in a what-could-have-been, what-should-have-been tale. Your mate might be good at picking the right words, which didn't surprise you. (One of your professors praised his essay on "Don Quixote".) Or Gaarder might think that death was a topic most people avoid talking about, if not they try too hard to delay (the inevitable). It didn't take long for Cecilia to embrace it. Did the wintry landscape give her a new perspective? In such a short time? The thought unsettled you.
"Predator's Gold" by Philip Reeve. Professor Brody, who taught science fiction, required you to write an essay on the steampunk genre. Why Hollywood couldn't make a good adaption (to the big screen)? He cited Philip Reeve's "Mortal Engines", a box-office bomb. You almost missed the deadline, as "Predator's Gold", the sequel, intrigued you. And you completed the novel in two days. The novel was set in Alaska, which was far from the big-city-eats-small-city world that was Europe. The isolation could drive anyone mad, but Reeve's description turned Anchorage, the state's largest city, into Shangri-La. Would James Hilton fancy it? You don't have the answers, but your professor was quite disappointed after reading your essay (and your coursemates).
"Snow Falling on Cedars" by David Guterson. Pauline cried after reading the final chapter of this novel, set in Washington after World War II. A Japanese community could be found in San Pedro Island, just north of Puget Sound. There were deep anti-Japanese sentiments following the Second World War. And Ishmael, the protagonist in the novel, lets go of his first love. His agnosticism hardened into atheism. As the title would suggest, the snow played a major role in this series of unfortunate events. Pauline pointed out that it would make her nostalgic of the colder months, but the ending reminded her of a Graham Greene novel. You became uneasy, as you realized that some things don't get much icier than inside Ishmael's heart.
"The Slippery Slope" by Lemony Snicket. You couldn't get enough of Daniel Handler's series, who used Lemony Snicket as his pen name (in the series). "The Hostile Hospital", the eighth in the series, was your favorite. It had partly to do with the fact that the names of the female patients in that hospital were popular literary heroines, but only literature majors could detect it. (That was the fun part.) "The Slippery Slope", the sequel to "The Carnivorous Carnival", which was the sequel to "The Hostile Hospital", should've seen the end to the Baudelaires's woes. But you didn't hold your breath. You would have given up on the series otherwise. And it set the stage for a bizarre, if not open, ending. You didn't reveal it to your coursemates. They thought you were a killjoy.
"Northern Lights" by Philip Pullman. You wanted to see Svalbard, which dumbfounded Christian. And he hasn't seen the BBC series. Yet.
"30 Days of Night" by Steve Niles. Simon wondered why there wasn't a title from the Horror genre, so he cited this comic book. Barrow, one of the northernmost towns in Alaska, wouldn't see the sun for 30 days. And the vampires took advantage of it. Christian asked Simon if he had enough of "Dracula". He didn't. As a matter of fact, he yearns to explore the Greek countryside after reading John William Polidori's "The Vampyre". A heavy silence followed.
"The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen. True love wins. Enough said. Or you just saw the bewildered looks.
The Day After Tomorrow
Simon described ice sheets extending across the northern hemisphere. You wondered if it came from another comic book, but your mate corrected you right away. It was a science fiction disaster film starring Jake Gyllenhaal. And he predicted a drier, warmer South and a wetter North next month and early next year. Everyone was stunned.
