Lunch with Old Friends...

I have recently developed a habit of reading over my lunch break at work. The way my schedule is, I am not generally able to stop and eat until nearly everyone else has left the teacher's lounge, so it's the perfect opportunity for me to spend time with my literary friends.

In the last few weeks I have met some great people. I have spent some time with a professor, English royalty, an annoyingly boring anti-anarchist, and a medieval maiden. I consider all of them to be dear friends, with the exception of Thursday. (He and I are acquaintances, certainly, but absolutely not friends.)

This week I decided to catch up with some old friends and read From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I have known Claudia and Jamie Kinkaid for roughly twenty-five years. I was introduced to them through author E.L. Konigsburg when I was young. Claudia was the first to become my friend. She and I both had younger brothers and we were both planners, but that was where our similarities ended. While I was introverted and content to stay home, Claudia craved adventure. While I was very analytical, Claudia was a romantic at heart. In short, I was prose and Claudia was poetry. She was everything I was not, and everything I wanted to be.


Thinking about it, though, who wouldn't want to run away from home and hide out in a museum, especially one as grand as the Metropolitan Museum of Art? (If this is a spoiler, stop immediately, put the computer away, and run - don't walk - to your nearest library.) When Claudia determined that this is what she would do, she asked her brother, Jamie, to come along because, "They complimented each other perfectly. She was cautious (about everything but money) and poor; he was adventurous (about everything but money) and rich." In the course of their adventure, they happened upon a mysterious statue of an angel which Claudia surmises was sculpted by the great Michelangelo. They go on a journey to confirm Claudia's suspicions, which leads them to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

I had read this book so many times as a kid. I had my very own copy, which was well-worn and very loved. As I grew older, I passed my love for Claudia and Jamie on to my own children, who have their own well-worn and much loved copy. I had not read their story as an adult, however, and I realized this week that it was highly overdue.

I still love Claudia and Jamie. I still envy their adventure at the Met. As an adult, though, I have to empathize with Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid. While the book doesn't give the reader any insight into what they went through, I can only imagine how horrific must it have been to have two of their children disappear. I can't say that this particular worry resonated with me when I was a child the way it does now. This knowledge doesn't discount the fun and excitement that I have with Claudia and Jamie, it just gives me a different perspective. And that's what good reading does, really, isn't it? It makes you think about something new and different or makes you think about things differently.

I'll keep you posted.