What can you say about a 72-year-old bestselling novelist who died? That he became a pop culture icon at 32 and was a highly respected Yale scholar. That he sold tons of copies of his romance-tragedy novel Love Story. And that he made millions of people around the world weep with sorrow.Segal was a Yale classics professor. He brought Harvard to life through his books...i felt i was there with them- sitting in Harvard Square.
He attained worldwide fame for the book Love Story, “a simple story” of a modern day Romeo and Juliet, who fall in love, marry and discover she is dying of cancer. It is a story of love-and death –both of which leave us spellbound, by the powerful impact they have .Enough has been written about these two phenomena-and by not writing about it in the book-there is a feeling of finality. The silence of death rings in our ears after we read the final words. The bittersweet romance is full of heartwarming moments-nothing monumental or earthshaking but –everyday happenings and mundanity. It is their love for each other which lifts the book to its iconic level. The situations are those which we all have faced at some point in our life or another-BUT-their reactions are extraordinary. Music and smiles enter our world through his words....simple words.
And love happens.
“What can you say about a twenty-five year old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. The Beatles. And me.”
Immortal opening words of a modern day classic.
And to all my friends "love means never having to say you are sorry!"
No comments:
Post a Comment