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Tyler Oaks on the Move: Sharing Books
There is a scene I’ve always loved in the 2005 movie “Walk the Line.” It’s when June Carter gives Johnny Cash the book she’s just finished reading. She doesn’t want it back because she doesn’t keep books; she shares them. I like the give-it-away outlook; the idea that in sharing a book, it will enter someone else’s thoughts after it has left your hands. Even though I have a tendency to keep my books, wanting them on my shelves to go back to, I want to be more like June in that scene. Lately I’ve been trying to share what I’ve read with the people around me, whether I think they will connect with the story or not. When two people are willing to read the same text, they share a bond that years cannot take away because the story remains the same, even after our perspective changes and we end up seeing the story differently.
When I was a junior in high school, a friend gave me a copy of E.M. Forster’s “A Room with a View” to borrow. Because our classes kept us more than busy with required reading and studying, I wasn’t doing much outside reading. My friend saved me by introducing me to a book that I didn’t have to analyze or write a paper on. I loved the story, and it quickly became one of my favorites. “A Room with a View” even helped one of my teenage birthdays become very funny. I chose for everyone to watch the movie version and shocked the room with the scene of three naked men running around a swimming hole together. “How d’ye do? Come and have a bathe,” aside, I recently reconnected with that high school friend who lent me the book after all these years. One of the first things we recollected about each other was “A Room with a View.” What we read together as human beings influences us, inspires us and connects us even when the years change us.
My neighbor recently let me borrow a stack of books to take on a trip with me. I didn’t end up getting to read as much as I had anticipated, but one of his books wrapped itself around my travels. I ended up talking about Masaru Emoto’s “The Hidden Messages in Water” with almost everyone I met. The photos were fascinating to show to people, especially the people that looked at me like I was crazy, or worse, who wouldn’t discuss the book at all. Discovering people who are willing to talk about books we may or may not believe in is worth the occasional glance from people that can make you wonder if yes, you are in fact crazy.
Becoming more like June Carter is easy if you let it be. Yes, it’s hard to bring up an interesting subject your reading about or a story that intruiges you, only to be stared at strangely in silence. But for the people who look up at you with eyes that actually get it, opening up about books becomes worth the risk. Almost every book I’ve been given is one I never would have chosen for myself. That’s what I love about sharing. That’s why I’m working on the June thing and loving it.
View Tyler's BookExpo America 2008 Author Interview
