I like to think I have learned a few things from all the various books I have read over the years. I know that I learned a lot from the reading that I have done over the last year. These lessons made me think a great deal about what future generations would think they knew about us based solely on the books that we are currently reading.
We’ll start with my bookshelf, and go with the understanding that something cannot be assumed to be true unless it appears in at least two books. Based on that, here are a few of the assumptions future generations might make about life at the beginning of the 21st century:
1. Children have magical, profound, life-altering experiences at the age of 8. (See
The Oracle of Stamboul and
Jamrach’s Menagerie)
2. Albinos smell like fish when they get upset. (See
Galore and
Pym)
3. If a woman is made to wear red (or be red), then it is a safe bet that she is not a virgin. (See
The Handmaid’s Tale and
When She Woke)
4. Young people with unique talents or special abilities must be segregated from the general population. It is for their own safety. (See
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, the
Harry Potter series, and
Hex Hall)
5. When boys run away from home, they realize their mistake and find their way back quickly. (See
Noah Barleywater Runs Away, The Borrower, and
The Last Brother)
6. When girls run away from home, their intent is to stay gone. (See
The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine,
Lamb, and
Bound)
7. People want to live forever. Until they find that they can, in fact, live forever. (See
The Taker and
The Queen of Kings)
8. The people that no one notices are often capable of the greatest things. (See
Ready Player One and
Neverwhere)
9. Magic is even better when alcohol and sex are involved. (See
The Magicians and
The Night Circus)
10. The people of the 21st century would have accomplished so much more if only they had not been overrun with vampires/werewolves/zombies. (See
Zone One, The Last Werewolf, and
The Passage)
Take a good, hard look at your own shelves. What observations could you add to the list?
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Cassandra Neace teaches college students how to write essays and blogs about books and book-related goodness at Indie Reader Houston. Follow her on Twitter: @CassandraNeace
