Behind The Scenes

Back when due dates used to be stamped inside the front covers of books, I took a Rumer Godden book off the shelf at Chico State’s library and looked at its circulation history. To my surprise, the last due date was thirteen years earlier--which meant I might have been the first person to open that particular volume in over a decade. And it made me wonder, in a metaphysical sort of way, what happens to all that is contained in these books when no one is reading them, bringing them to life. Then I got my answer, or at least an answer. Keilana was cast ten years ago in a play called “Mutiny in the Library,” where all the characters from books not checked out come to life at night and live lives completely separate from their literary selves. I had always suspected as much, it was just nice to have some validation. But there was a note of sadness to the whole thing, as there always seems to be when some being doesn’t live up to its intended and authentic purpose. Although maybe we don’t really know so much about the true purposes of things. Like cats--maybe they were meant to be a bit stand-offish and sleep all day, and maybe they weren’t. In John Burningham’s It’s A Secret, Marie-Elaine finds out about the secret nightlife of her cat, Malcolm, and joins in for an evening of frolic. I guess that’s what cats do when no one is watching.

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Secret-John-Burningham/dp/0763642754

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Burningham