Blog 10: An Inspiration or Calling?

Have you ever felt so strong an attachment to something that it calls to you; like its a part of you? In ways you cannot comprehend, you understand it and bond with it more than anything else that you've ever encountered. I believe that everyone comes across this...this magic at least once in their lifetime. And I'm not talking about unconditional love for a human being or animal, but for a cause or idea; maybe a religion. There's never been so strong a calling to me than from the novel Pandora (1998) by Anne Rice. I view this book with a strong sense of compassion and understanding in such a way that I never thought possible for the human mind. I've never been so caught up in words of morals, religion, and politics in my entire life. It has a strong sense of what it means to be mortal, to be a woman, to be strong or cowardly...every human or religious value and moral that we're taught or that we learn are all wrapped up in the writings and story of a strong female character and the ones she both loves and hates. It is a realm of the unknown that is far beyond knowledge but so understood by the heart and the way that these characters base their life either on reason or whim provokes a strong relishing on my part. I feel for them because they strive to understand and to learn and to teach what is both right and wrong and the way that one should live and die. And with its historical value of the true ways of life in all the Roman, mortal, and immortal in their glory days and days of famine and drought. Its filled with contradictions for everything from knowledge to religion to philosophy to politics, etc. and never does it end. Throughout the entire novel the characters are back and forth with their wide ranged wit and quick tongues that it keeps the reader on their toes. And it makes you think to yourself about everything that they discuss over or disagree about. Whose side would you take if any? Do you have a different opinion or have they completed your sense of rationalizing what you hear? It makes you think about what you're truly like; breaking down the psyche of humans to the bare instincts that are bred into us. Who in this world can better understand who you are but yourself? I believe I've said this in a previous post but its something that I think about a lot in my spare time. Its a good question because most people go off of cliches and stereotypes to explain themselves and others when those should only be used to generalize if at all. No two people think the same way; they may have similar beliefs and ideas but never are they the exact same. Somewhere in their conscious or unconscious there is a difference in the way they perceive the world and all its inhabitants. That's the theme of this book: how we ourselves view the world and everything on or surrounding it. Its almost like my mind's quarrels are written down in another person's point of view and discussed between persons not just my own thoughts. There are very few other things in this world that I come close to understanding as much as I do this book (or at least feel that I do because the author could have had a very different view on the subject which goes back to my saying earlier about how we're all unique). I recommend this novel for anyone looking for a good read and an actual love or interest (or both) in what Ms. Rice has to offer in the writing. It's absolutely magnificent.