More than anything except music, books have sustained me through many challenging periods in my life. And though I surely would have survived those periods without the company books provide, I'm grateful to have had the company just the same.
Of the recent books that have helped prop me up, Rocket Boys might be the one that first comes to mind in the future when I relive some of my current challenges. Homer Hickam's 1998 memoir of growing up in a hardscrabble West Virginia coal town bears little resemblance to my own adolescence in almost all of its particulars. But like many transcendent reading experiences I've had, beneath the surface, Hickam tapped into something that connects his life to mine. After sharing the way this book did its magic with me, I'd welcome hearing a parallel reading experience of yours. I suspect the readers among you have experienced this magic and perhaps - like me - that magic may have helped you surmount challenges, large or small.
In Rocket Boys, Hickam describes how he discovered his calling at age fourteen watching Sputnik streak across the Appalachian sky. Reading the author's simple recounting of his transformation that day instantly transported me to my own thirteen-year-old awakening, waiting for the radio to play He's So Fine. Each time I heard the drum break in that song, I recall thinking to myself "I want to be able to do that!" It's possible I even said those words aloud a few times. But even if my memory is letting me down, one thing is certain: He's So Fine changed my life in 1962 just like Sputnik did for Hickam in 1957. Reliving my epiphany through the straightforward words of this author lightened my load these past few weeks. Such is the magic of books.
https://reflectionsfromthebellcurve.blogspot.com/2021/08/i-can-never-repay-you-hal.html
https://reflectionsfromthebellcurve.blogspot.com/2023/04/69-mt-rushmore-series.html
Good afternoon, Pat. I loved Rocket Boys. I watched the movie, of course, when it first came out. Sometimes, and more often than not of late, a movie will have such an impact that I have to know more about it - usually it's the story/book that inspired it. After watching October Sky I just had to read Rocket Boys. What a fantastic story made even better in writing.
ReplyDeleteThere were books that made a change life starting back in HS. I remember reading a book called The Contender about a youth finding his way. And so many years later I can remember the impact it had - if nothing else increasing the desire to read more.
Be well,
Bob
Hey Bob (#2); You and I share a clear trait here, one I've referred to many times here on my blog and elsewhere, i.e., paying attention to the credits when a screenplay moves us. Thanks for the comment; nice to see how aligned we are on this memoir.
DeleteThanks for sharing your personal experience/insights while reading "Rocket Boys". I loved the book and the story opened a new kind of reality I've not experienced before. Like the author, I also had an experience when I was only seven years old and went to see Mary Martin in "Peter Pan" on Broadway and decided I wanted to be a singer. And I have!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous; Thanks for the comment and sharing some of your story with me.
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