The best way to get kids to read a book is to say: ‘This book is not appropriate for your age, and it has all sorts of horrible things in it like sex and death and some really big and complicated ideas, and you’re better off not touching it until you’re all grown up. I’m going to put it on this shelf and leave the room for a while. Don’t open it”.
Philip Pullman
Fact: My Grandpa left behind a shit-ton of books when he passed away. They were on shelves in the basement at my Grandma’s house. I asked if I could look for something to read, and my mom said they were probably all “too old” for me. I think she was talking about The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Rebecca, The Sun Also Rises, etc. Then she said, “And some of them are just trashy pulp novels.”
That last bit would not stop rolling around in my brain.
“…trashy pulp novels.”
“…trashy pulp novels.”
“…trashy pulp novels.”
I had no idea what that meant, but I really wanted to find out.
And just like that, I knew what I was going to do that day.
THE END.
