Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Three Perils of Reading!

ALABloggingIn the library world, there are individuals who we consider “rock stars” of the profession. One such “rock star” is a petite librarian named Nancy Pearl. Mrs. Pearl is the model for the librarian action figure, “with the amazing push-button shushing action.” In person, she looks exactly like the Barbie size doll, complete with loafers and glasses.

At a recent conference, I was lucky enough to hear her speak on reading. She surprised us by giving three perils of reading. Yes, my friends, there are three dangers that occur to people who read too much. And, you thought reading was all good.

First peril occurs when one encounters vocabulary he may not know how to pronounce. She admitted for years she pronounced misled as missile-d. Other examples include the words awry and segue. I myself tried to use segway in an article. The spell-check underlined it quick, thus I used transition instead. It wasn’t until writing this that the light bulb came on.

Second peril occurs when one is too lazy to define a word so they surmise the meaning from context. Pearl recalled her younger days spent reading the Anne of Green Gables series. At her tender age, the dying of little Ruby was extremely traumatic, for she couldn’t figure out who or what ate her or how she ate herself. You see little Ruby died of “consumption.”

The last peril is the most dangerous of all. It occurs when one confuses stories they have read with their actual life. It happened to Pearl a few months earlier. While on the phone with her daughter, she started telling her about a yellow prom dress she wore to the dance. She went into elaborate detail recounting the high collar, lace arms, and fancy petticoat. As she continued describing her date, Mike, he daughter stopped her. “Mom, you didn’t go to the prom!” With worry in her voice, she told her mom she sounded like a chapter in Double Date by Rosamond Du Jardin.

Aagh! This is my fate for sure. I can see myself telling tales to the nursing home staff and them thinking, “Ah, she just read it in a book.” How will they know the real me from the written me? I really skipped a Starduster on the calm waters of Old Hickory Lake thanks to Michael Torraca. I didn’t really land a DC3 in the mountains during icing conditions with only car lights as my guide thanks to Ernest K. Ganns. Such is life, and such is life in books.

13 comments:

Isabel said...

Loved the prom story.

I hope something like that doesn't happen to me!

maggie moran said...

I'm sure it will in my case. I come from a family filled w/ dementia. I'll keep them guessing. You know, play the "what character is she today" game. :)

Gentle Reader said...

That last peril is definitely going to be my undoing--thanks for the hilarious post :)

maggie moran said...

Your welcome, Gentle Reader, and #3 mine, too! :D

Anonymous said...

How funny! I absolutely loved the third peril too. I hope I don't start doing that one day :)

Tiffany Norris said...

Oh my goodness. LOVE Nancy Pearl. Book Lust had a prominent place on my shelf at school (had some raised eyebrows over that one at first--haha).
And I agree that the third peril will make great fodder for stories around the nursing home one day!

Kelly said...

I have a great fear of the first peril--especially when I have to speak at a conference and I'm trying to sound intelligent!

maggie moran said...

I'll believe every word, Iliana. Promise! ;D

Hey, what if we establish a librarian retirement community, Tiffany. We could really have some fun with those wiper-snapper nurses! :D

I bet there will be at least one person in the audience that says it the same as you, Kelly! Ah, just grin through it...

Mo said...

What a great post - we laugh because its all too true!

(My mother and I already fall into a tendency to talk about book characters as tho we actually *know* these people! Maybe we have some kind of 'mass dementia' setting in already?!)LoL

maggie moran said...

Mo, we welcome you to the Anne of Green Gables Seniors Independent Living Community. Leave your old life behind and pick-up any random character as self, just as long as it's not currently in use. I'm sure you can think of characters we wouldn't want to duplicate. ;D

"No, I'm sorry sir. We already have a Captain Blyth."

loofrin said...

as a present to myself on the almost completion of my MLS I just purchased the Librarian Action Figure with shushing action.

I need a job... help me! lol

loofrin said...

Oh, and one more thing, I love the fact that you use the detail of the reading woman from Hopper's "Hotel Lobby." I live in Indianapolis and I make special trips to the art museum just to see that painting. Its one my favorites.

maggie moran said...

Love it DWC! Thanks for stopping by and making me giggle. I'm a little jealous, too. I would love to see a Hopper in person. I absolutely love the Nighthawk!