Thursday Thoughts...

The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.
Alan Bennett


Alan Bennett puts it so beautifully - that sense of connection we get when we come across somebody who has managed to crystallise and express our own thoughts in a wonderful way. I am often awed by how perfectly some people can express themselves; they capture the essence of the thing, or find a way into something that suddenly illuminates it and allows you to understand or comprehend it more fully.

I think he also reinforces for me the idea (that seems to keep repeating in these book-y Th Ths) that books and writing help you to know that you are not alone.

One of our favourite book group reads this year was Alan Bennett's "The Uncommon Reader" and throughout our discussions we kept focusing on how beautifully he wrote. We kept reading out to each other favourite lines or passages that were exquisite in their simplicity or their ability to elegantly skewer somebody!

I think his idea that it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours is a beautiful way of thinking about an author's attempts to reach their audience.