See, here's the deal:
A couple weeks ago, I purchased a used copy of Henry Miller's Tropic of Capricorn from Amazon.com.
Well, the book arrived the other day, and the cover looks like THIS:
Fairly standard, if a bit worn. However, looking on the inside, I found THIS:
(Click to see the larger, high-res, image.)Hmm. "I will NEVER forget the beach. Love, Amber."
Now I'm all intrigued. WHO is Amber, and TO WHOM did she write this message??? There are no other such markings to be found anywhere in the book, leaving me with little to go on.
But, STILL, the whole thing has me feeling rather sentimental. Did Amber REALLY never forget the beach, as she promised? What happened there, exactly??? And how is she doing these days, anyway???
This particular edition of Tropic of Capricorn purports to have been printed in 1987, so the message contained on the inside cover may literally be decades old. Could Amber be dead? Could the person she wrote this to be dead?? Would that explain how his (or her) copy of this most personal item wound up for sale at a used book shop with an Amazon account???
Perhaps I'll contact the seller to find out. I mean, I want Amber to get her book back, if it still means anything to her. Heck, I'll even pay the shipping cost myself...because that's the kind of soft-hearted guy I am.
Then again, maybe I prefer the mystery of it all, and don't really WANT to know the true story of Amber, her experience at the beach, or why she chose to mention it on the inside cover of a Henry Miller novel.
Hmmm.....
(Perhaps some mysteries are best left unsolved, Watson.)ANYWAY, coming up tomorrow, I'll have a review of a lovely, locally-produced, film that I screened the other day in a town not far from where I currently reside. I got to meet the writer and director and producer and everything (well, for a few seconds, anyway). It's a drama, called The Lake Effect. I hope some of you folks read what I have to say, as I really enjoyed the movie, and I think some of us know how I feel about promoting Michigan's film industry.
In the meantime, I shall continue my search for the elusive Amber (or, maybe not)....
b.
I would make an interesting premise for a series of short stories, each answering the mystery in a different way. There's so many possibilities!
ReplyDeleteYou bastard, I want my book back!
ReplyDeleteDebra -- I agree....
ReplyDeleteI mean, what if the guy Amber gave this book to ended up addicted to smack, and sold all of his belongings (even this most sentimental of books) in order to support his habit?
Or, maybe it was stolen from him.
Heck, the book is awfully worn (really, the seller grossly overcharged me, considering the condition it's in). I'll bet it actually belonged to this Amber woman before she gave it to her friend/lover, used. It's obviously been read more than once.
Many, many possibilities, indeed....
And, "AMBER" -- I SAID I'd send it to you!
But, first -- I want some questions answered.... :)
Damn, I hate it when someone reminds me that 1987 was "decades ago."
ReplyDeleteBy the way, finding Amber will probably not be easy. When I did a Google search, I got 138,000,000 results for "beach Amber." It'll take, like, months to go through them all.
I once knew an Amber. Ugliest thing I'd ever laid eyes on! She's probably stranded on the beach. I'd stay well clear.
ReplyDeleteMatt
http://manmeetsworld.blogspot.com/
Dave -- Tell me about it (not only in regards to the 1987 thing, but also the impossible Google search).
ReplyDeleteMatt -- I have no desire to meet Amber in any way; I merely am willing to give her the book back.
It's an awfully poignant scenario, really....
And, crap -- it reminds me of some of the embarrassingly romantic things I'VE written to women/girls in books I gave them. I sure hope they tore out the incriminating pages prior to reselling them!
I'm sorry but when things like that happen I am thrown into a weird tizzy. I think about the mystery and need answers and like just cannot deal with the unanswered questions. Kinda like that series of books/website of found notes, photos, lists, etc.
ReplyDeleteFourthGradeNothing.com
I think what's so striking about that inscription is the direct, purposeful Flowers for Algernon-style way in which it's written.
ReplyDeleteMost people, when they're writing something like that to a loved one, would write, "I'll never forget our night on the beach," or "I'll never forget that weekend at the beach." Not Amber. She writes "I WILL NEVER FORGET THE BEACH," all in caps and with a grim sort of resolve that no matter how bad the Alzheimer's gets or how many meds they give her to make the Voices sleep, she WILL remember the beach that she's fated never to see again.
If you find her, get a little box and put some sand in it and maybe one of those little dried starfish and a couple of small shells, and mail it to her with an anonymous note: "Amber...remember?" Then Amber will have her own little mystery to unravel.
Unless it's the Alzheimer's thing. Then she'll just stare at it for a few hours until the attendants come to feed her lunch.
I love the idea of making up a whimsical story. Oh Amber...
ReplyDeleteyou were probably under the effect of booze on that beach, and hence the memory loss! I bet you forgot our time at the beach too :PPPPP
ReplyDeleteAlly -- I am the same way.
ReplyDeleteDave -- I KNOW. That's what struck me about the whole thing -- the WAY in which Amber wrote her inscription. It's so forceful; as though whatever happened that day at the beach was an Earth-rocking experience.
Dezmond -- Please, no teasing of our mysterious Amber. As Dave noted, she could very well be unstable.
Geoffrey -- I agree. If I was a more talented writer, I would do something with this....