A philosophical novel written after Newman’s conversion to Roman Catholicism
Yesterday I finished reading Loss and Gain by Henry Newman, and as I write this, I have just finished Prince Caspian. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t just read books, but Lewis’ book is an afternoon read. In fact, it is a children’s book. After all the theological dose in Loss and Gain, I needed something light.
But I am more or less in the same frame of mind as after I finished Loss and Gain. Time seems to stand still. After reading the last page, I find myself thrown rudely into reality. (This happens to me after every book I read). My head kind of throbs. I need time to take in the fact that now I am in the real world and that the book characters and all that happened is imaginary. It is almost the same kind of feeling as the end of a movie, seeing the credits with nice music, and then bang!, someone switches on the lights and you stare at the blue screen in shock and disbelief.
What to do? Go on with life? Get another book to immerse oneself in? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was no TIME? I mean, we could enjoy a good book forever? It sounds like a joke, I know. But I don’t know what to do about my throbbing head.
Anyone got ideas?
I know that feeling very well, it’s so sad to have to leave characters behind when you’ve been so immersed in their lives 😦 I like to take a few moments rather than just jump straight into another book or my real life otherwise I fele a little bit like I’m cheating on them…
Yeah, it sure does help to take a few minutes. There are some books that demand a lot of thought and have a big impact on the reader; Loss and Gain is one of them.