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Have You Ever Had A Wild Animal Before?

by Bethanne 04:02 PM
Categories: the readers' advocate
I still can't walk very well (I was in a car wreck a few weeks back, and am still undergoing physical therapy to strengthen the sprained ligaments in my knee), so I tend to avoid situations that force me to bend my leg -- and that includes getting in and out of bed or on or off of our sofa. That's why, even though I don't really care about TV, that I'm watching The Bonnie Hunt Show right now. 

Bonnie is interviewing William Shatner (been there, done that , Bonnie!), and they're talking about his horses. Somehow, the conversation turned to wild animals, and he looked at her and said: "Have you ever had a wild animal before?" 

As we say in the blogosphere, ROTFLMAO. Bonnie was delightfully flummoxed, because the question was totally unexpected. I'm sure she's going to at least queue up some "Wild Kingdom" episodes on her DVR!

Now, this blog already has a grammarian, so I won't even talk about Shatner's mangled syntax. What I do want to talk about is the unexpected question. We've all had them, if not as interviewers or interviewees, then as readers. You're reading a novel or a memoir that you expected one thing from, and suddenly you realize that you want to know all about something completely tangential. For instance, a character might reference an historical event you've never heard of, and you suddenly want to know everything about that event, that place, that person, and so forth.

Last Friday I had a rare privilege: Because I was in NYC, I got to have coffee with a new Twitter friend who also happens to be one of our own Blogging Booksellers -- and she participates in the Discover New Writers program. I told her that one book I'd noticed because of Discover New Writers was "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," and I told her how the Unexpected Question struck me like a thunderbolt while I was reading it. I immediately wanted to know everything about Guernsey and its occupation, then I wanted to learn about the other Channel Islands and how they had been affected by WWII, and so on and so on and no, no Scooby Doo there...

What I did learn, however, was about the Clameur de Haro on Sark -- and the Dame of Sark -- and this actually came in handy while was reading "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie." (If you haven't read that one yet, go out and get a copy now. Trust me! You must meet Flavia de Luce and her crazy family.) This is why I love "the unexpected question" -- it always leads you somewhere you didn't expect to go. 

What's your favorite, or most recent, "unexpected question?"
4 comments
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by Moderator Melissa_W on 04-27-2009 04:11 PM
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Sort of - I watched The Lion in Winter (the Burton/Hepburn one) and all of a sudden I HAD TO KNOW MORE about Eleanor of Aquitaine.  So I obtained a copy of Alison Weir's book which led me to start reading all the rest of her histories/biographies because right when I finished Eleanor the book on Katherine Swynford (The Mistress of the Monarchy) was released.  And then I read Isabella, and then The Wars of the Roses and now I'm reading The Princes in the Tower...

 

I'll run out of her books eventually.

by Paula717 on 04-27-2009 07:26 PM
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That's funny, me too. I watched  Anne of the Thousand Days with Richard Burton and felt a hunger for more. The fact that my husband is from England helped a little, LOL. I picked up Henry the VIII by Alison Wier then moved onto The Six Wives of Henry VIII, The Children of Henry VIII, The Innocent Traitor, Lady Elizabeth, and The Life of Elizabeth I. I then moved onto Eleanor of Aquitaine, Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley and War of the Roses. I'm now watching "The Tudors" on Showtime but I get annoyed from time to time as they've gotten a few facts wrongs.

 

This past February I visited London again and must have sat in front of Queen Elizabeth's tomb, at Westminster Abbey, for about an hour ,just recalling all I had read about her. It was wonderful!

 

I'll pretty much ready anything by Alison Wier, as her writing flows easily and she manages to keep my attention, which can be difficult with non fiction. 

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by Beau1 on 04-29-2009 07:47 AM
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Interesting.  First of all I have had a wild animal.  My mother showed up on Christmas Eve 1964 with a squirrel monkey that I took care of for four years.  Cute little guy.  Used to bite my ear every time I tried to do my homework.  Probably why I failed English in high school. 

 

Anyway, I do the same thing with maps as you do with history.  Although the exact location of fictional events normally have no relevance to the story I get the atlas and globe out because I have to have a sense of bearing to follow what is going on.

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by Bethanne on 05-03-2009 07:30 PM
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Beau1, did you see the most recent "30 Rock?" Jenna and the squirrel monkey...LOL. I like that you check the map when you're reading; a great way to get that "sense of bearing." 

 

Paula 717, Alison Weir is GREAT. Now you've got me thinking of which of her books to put in my TBR pile!

 

pedsphleb, I love Eleanor of Aquitaine so much that I named a daughter after her. You are not alone...

 

Thanks, all, for reading and responding. Hope some of my future posts capture your interest. 

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