Booking Through Tuesday - The 9/11 Edition

Here's this week's prompt:

Today is the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I know that not all of you who read are in the U.S., but still, it’s vital that none of us who are decent people forget the scope of disaster that a few, evil people can cause–anywhere in the world. It’s not about religion, it’s not about politics, it’s about the acknowledgment that humans should try to work together, not tear each other apart, even when they disagree.

So, feeling my way to a question here … Terrorists aren’t just movie villains any more. Do real-world catastrophes such as 9/11 (and the bombs in Madrid, and the ones in London, and the war in Darfur, and … really, all the human-driven, mass loss-of-life events) affect what you choose to read? Personally, I used to enjoy reading Tom Clancy, but haven’t been able to stomach his fight-terrorist kinds of books since.

And, does the reality of that kind of heartless, vicious attack–which happen on smaller scales ALL the time–change the way you feel about villains in the books you read? Are they scarier? Or more two-dimensional and cookie-cutter in the face of the things you see on the news?

Wow. It's like a punch in the gut today each time 9/11 is brought up. When I turned the news on this morning and they talked about it, I realized I had forgotten the date. It is today. It's a day to remember. I left for work and basically forgot again. Then I see the prompt and it's another punch -oh yeah. Remember. I'll never forget that day. My life changed. The emotions are still raw but yet life goes on. My mind will move on to other things today and then another punch will hit as I remember again.

I think that everything is different because of 9/11. I never used to race to turn on the news first thing in the morning before. Now as soon as I shove my dog out the doggy door and turn on the coffee pot, the news goes on so I can check, make sure that the world is still turning.

I don't think my reading habits have changed. I was never one to read political thrillers or big action novels. They weren't my thing, and still aren't. I'd watch a movie in that genre now and then, but again, never my first choice.

I do see things differently though. I look for 9/11 in movies I watch. Have you seen the movie Vantage Point? It's a really good movie. There is a bombing that is hard to take despite the movie being so good. It wouldn't have been that hard to watch if it weren't for 9/11 and the terrorist attacks that go on around the world. In that respect, it's changed. My awareness is different.