“Writing literature is just like painting with words.”
Isn’t that delicious? My daughter and I were sitting at our kitchen table discussing word choice and other things that make certain books great and my husband, an artist, among other things, chimed in matter-of-factly over his laptop screen with that zinger. He does that sometimes…
My daughter and I perked up and thought about that juicy statement. A word painting. Now, that’s something! When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. What a really great book does for us is this: Instead of telling us what is happening, it paints a vivid, moving picture in our heads. It weaves us into it’s colorful tapestry. We become part of the story. We feel the story.
A great author is an artist. He or she uses words as color and pencil as brush.Think about the elements of a painting. We have the setting, the subjects, the composition – how the setting and subjects are arranged, and the story. Same thing in a literary work. An artist creates something that not only appeals to us visually, but spiritually and emotionally. He or she has a unique style, a unique relationship with the brush. The work catches us off guard. It evokes something deep within us. It awakens things that we have long forgotten. A great work also give us something. It gives us new perspective, new voice. It becomes a part of us, an old friend that we want to spend time with, that comforts us.
These are some of our favorite works of art.
(We love reading all kinds of books, but the ones on this list changed us. They made us see the world differently. They took us to new depths of feeling. The words were so powerful, so descriptive, so profound, that we often had to pause, think, re-read, and discuss for days, sometimes weeks. Now, that’s a good book, right? Oh, and please also remember that my oldest reader is 8. I know this list will grow as she grows!)
(The following pictures contain links to Amazon.com. Should you decide to purchase any of the books, Thankfully Home will receive a small commission. This will not cost you anything at all! It helps us buy books for our family, so thank you!)
And here have been some of my favorite works of literary art, my heavy hitters, both recently and throughout the years.
