Finishing a Book - The Impact of Stories

This is one of my favorite things. Call it a sense of accomplishment. I think the more important feeling is that not only is something finished, but a new sense of perspective comes. That landscape is altered just a bit, and for that, I also feel a sense of appreciation.

I just finished "The Green Mile," by Stephen King. Underneath the story of how a death-row prison guard deals with not only an innocent, but incredibly gifted prisoner is a strong meditation on the power of writing, of storytelling. Tim O'Brien had a similar reflection in parts of "The Things They Carried." It's so interesting to me that two very different writers (and who knows how many more) manage to reflect on their process in the midst of writing both fiction and nonfiction.

Both Paul Edgecome (King's narrator), and Tim O'Brien talk about storytelling being an outlet, a kind of therapy. That somehow, by telling their stories, by putting pen to paper, they can find resolution. I think sometimes readers feel this power, too, and they use stories for their own purposes. So, it seems we all have our own agendas, and the story's impact is in the eye of the creator and the beholder.

Now that I've read the book, I can see the movie (a principle of mine), but I know King's words will, in ways, never be fully conveyed on screen. I have heard the movie is good, but I highly recommend the book.

~MJ