The Books They Gave Me

In which we reflect on books given us by loved ones.

Vonnegut.

—I have been following you for a couple of weeks, intrigued and interested but persuaded that except for my mother, nobody else, specially not ‘a love interest’ had ever given me a book. I am 56 years old, I was feeling sad I could not share such memories, but I would not give up on that search. On top of that I am living in Montreal but most of my books are in my Paris apartment. Suddenly this morning as I was reading my usual feeds on google reader,there must have been a hint somewhere for I remembered a book I was given too. When I met my husband, back in 1990, I was a Jane Austen, Henry James but also a Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett- to name a few- kind of reader. I thought that as far as Anglo American literature was concerned I could not discover or like more than I myself knew. It is my passion- reading, not in French my mother tongue, but in English. At the time, my husband was reading ‘The Art of War’ (in French) and I assumed we would not share our literary orientations. Not my cup of tea. Very quickly after we met, he gave me  Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut -the very copy I scanned, cover and first page showing the November 1988 edition- and said I should read it, that I would like it. I did it, reluctantly - it sounded so ‘harsh’, another ‘boy’s book, I thought. Well the rest of the story is predictable, I could not lay my eyes off it until I finished it - in one night ?  a compelling, powerful, captivating story. Here in Montreal I have the books bought for the last 7 years of my life in that city but I had taken with me the books that ‘counted’, I could not leave behind … hence Mother Night. I write this story for my husband, who is in Paris and who might be one of the few who reads my blog, out of love, after 21 years of shared life and memories,  and yearning to have me back in Paris, which is planned for the next year.  Thank you for letting ordinary people share ordinary stories. Sincerely —-

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