I really love John Burnside's writing. So much so that I've just gone off and ordered his novel A Summer of Drowning. I'm not sure how many novels he has written, but he has published a slew of books, most of which are poetry collections. I can never quite wrap my head around poetry for some reason, but I swear I am working my way up to picking up one of his. I've been slowly working my way through his short story collection Something Like Happy, which I have most thoroughly enjoyed.
I feel this often with books that resonate with me, and particularly so with his writing. But how is it an author can see inside my head and know what I am thinking and feeling? This is why I love reading so much, that feeling of shared experiences, knowing that I am not the first to go through something and likely there are more people out there that feel just the same than I realize.
This is from his story "The Deer Larder".
"Sometimes I want to kick myself for not having arrived at this place sooner--because it took me a ridiculously long time to realize that happiness was a much simpler proposition than I had first imagined. Growing up, we think it's going to be some big event: love at first sight, say, or a brilliant career; glittering prizes; a perfect wife; beautiful, gifted children. I have none of these things, but I am comfortable and I do work that, more often than not, I enjoy, work that leaves room in my day-to-day existence for the unglamorous, apparently negligible events that, cumulatively, add up to a more or less happy life. That's why there are no novels, or plays, or Hollywood movies about happiness. It's too ordinary, and it's too slow."
It's always there right in front of our eyes, right?
The funny thing about this story (not 'funny' in a laugh out loud manner) is that while it is about happiness, it's really a story verging on the macabre. Almost a ghost story at heart with this wonderful twist. The very best 'ghost stories' are always the ones that you can imagine actually happening.
By the way, the season of stories has finally started here in the US (or at least a story has finally landed in my inbox). You can subscribe here.