Reading

When I was small, Mom would read to me and my brother, at naptime - if not every day, then at least, frequently. With my Mom, you could never tell what the tale would be.

It might have been a classic, from Robinson Crusoe to Around the World in 80 Days, a western by Zane Grey or Louis L'amour, a science fiction novel by Andre Norton. Okay, probably no romance, but there had to be limits somewhere. You see, she loved a good story. A well-written tale.

She didn't go for a lot of foul language or smut - but instead enjoyed tales written by authors who could entertain you without all the "extra" stuff that a lot of writers lean on to sell books. That's to say, if there was language or other - as long as it wasn't overdone - she'd accept it and move on (although we didn't get to hear it).

As an adult, I favor these books. That is to say, pretty much anything that's a good tale and is well written. My all-time favorite authors include Mark Twain and Louis L'amour (a couple of weeks ago I finished The Walking Drum again - one of my favorite all-time books), and sci-fi authors like Isaac Asimov (although, truth be told - he wrote much, much, much more than just sci-fi). One author I like - that my Mom does not care for - is Piers Anthony.

He isn't the traditional "clean" author. His tales do not typically dwell on "smut" - although I've read at least one short story that is nothing but - but there's still a fair dose of it in some of his books. I am currently starting book 3 of a 5 part series (that I read many years ago) called Bio of a Space Tyrant. The main character is Hope Hubris. He's a pretty decent guy.

I mean, he was responsible for the deaths of his parents, he allowed very bad things to happen to his sisters (including trading one into slavery). Oh yeah, back to his parents, he had very good reason to eat one of them (gruesome - but we must remember that sometimes things happen beyond our control - and what are we to do?). And he killed, personally, his beloved, his girlfriend, the one he was to marry the very next day - she was even in her wedding dress for rehearsal. All of this - before his 16th birthday.

Yet, Hope... really was a good guy. He really, really was. Despite what some folks may say about his actions. Or at least, that's my humble opinion. Of course, I am only starting the 3rd narrative in his autobiography - there'll be two more yet, once that's complete. So maybe I'll find some reason to change my opinion - but so far... so good.

It's interesting to me (if I try to be detached) that I can "like" this character despite all the things he has done. Many times in our lives, we are put into a position where there's no right answer, so we choose the left one. Hopefully, it's not the wrong one. But just because we may have to do things, does not necessarily mean that we're evil people. We are simply human.

Like Hope.

One of my guiding principles in life has been... "Where there's Life, there's Hope".

Hope survived... he lived through Hell... but he went on to make the world a better place. I hope that someday I will be judged for the seemingly few good things I did, not the glaringly bad things. I will make mistakes - I will make decisions that some regard as unfavorable - even terrible - but I will also never do things with cruel intent, no matter how it may seem at the time.

Hope Hubris made mistakes. Serious ones. Some of the things he did - he had to do. He had to make decisions - choose between evils - and persevere - and eventually his world "righted" itself and became a better place. It was not through inaction that this happened, but through his choosing to effect positive change on the world around him.

Where there's Life, there's Hope.