I sat next to my dad in the
theater, and saw a preview for an upcoming film. I snickered at the title, and leaned over to
my Dad to whisper, “Ender’s Game, huh? ‘Cause
that’s totally original. Nothing like,
say, Hunger Games.” Dad smiled to acknowledge
my sarcasm, but whispered back, “It’s actually totally different. Ender’s Game is a book that was published a
while back, maybe in the 70s. It was a
pretty good read, you should try it out.”
That was my introduction to Ender’s
Game. It was not the start of my love
affair with it though – that came much later.
I went away to camp for the summer, and Ender’s Game sat on the shelves
of the library, completely forgotten by me.
Or so I thought.
When I came home I had not read a
novel for three months. I rarely go that
long, and my mind itched for a new story.
Then, I remembered that night, sitting in the dark theater next to my
Dad, and our whispered conversation.
The next day I was in town, and I
stopped by the library and picked up the hardcover copy of Ender’s Game. The cover photo showed some spaceship aiming
for some orange planet. Very
sci-fi. I’ve always been a fantasy girl,
so the picture combined with my resentment of sci-fi prodded me to put the book
on my desk and leave it there for four days.
Finally, I started reading it. Only a few sentences in, Orson Scott Card hit
me with the line: “Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth.” I was rapidly warming up to this book. I love wise sayings stuck nonchalantly into
prose. Besides, I could identify with
this kind of cynicism.
After a few chapters, I was
convinced. Not in love, but convinced. The characters were so real, and the sci-fi aspect
wasn't over-the-top weird. I kept
reading, and followed this boy as he grew so old in only a few years. I could identify with that feeling. Of people expecting a lot from you, and
trying all the time to measure up. I
became Ender - the writer was just that good.
I finished the book and was flung
into sadness. I wanted to cry forever
when it ended. Not because the content
was sad though, but because it was over.
I knew then that I was in love with the book. When I love a book so much that it steals my
real life and makes my life solely living vicariously through the main
character, then it is a good book. But
the price of a good book, for me, has always been that when I finish it, there
is pain. Being ripped from that world,
with no chance of return (for there will never be another first time of reading
it) is so hard.
And the bitter but amazing twist
ending was done so well. Ever been
manipulated? Well I have been, and yet
again I became Ender. There are more
installments in Ender’s story. A second,
third, and probably fourth, and fifth book have been written. But I won’t read them. Ender’s Game was too good to be spoiled by my
feelings about other books.
I won’t forget that book as long as
I live. Someday I’ll even buy it. I inadvertently memorized tidbits of wisdom from that book, like "Don't true to use hot anger to fuel you, wait until it cools. Hot anger uses you, but you can use cool anger," and "Try it again. This time without self-pity." Feeling kinship with someone you've never met is an amazing and truly wonderful aspect of reading books.
Ernest Hemingway once said: “All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had
really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel
that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the
good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and
the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give
that to people, then you are a writer.” Orson Scott Card is a true writer.
