Love Story

The best stories are love stories.

Wait a minute...I know what you are thinking: paperbacks with shirtless, athletic men and busty women in an intimate embrace.  No--that is not what I mean.

Of course, stories involving romantic love can be great. I think of the Spiderman movie and the opening narration: “But let me assure you, this, like any other story worth telling, is all about a girl. [Cut to first shot of Mary Jane] That girl, The girl next door. Mary Jane Watson. The woman I loved since before I even liked girls.”

Or it can be impossible love, like the love of a mouse for a princess in The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.

Or it can be the love of a boy for his dogs, like in Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.

Or it can be the love of a hobbit for a world of beauty where people can live a simple life as in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

Sometimes the audience falls in love with the characters. In that first chapter of J.K. Rowling’s The Philosopher’s Stone we just want to storm into the Dursley’s home and rescue poor Harry Potter. We want to take him to a better place and tell him everything will be okay.

If it isn’t a love story, then it doesn’t matter how many interesting and exciting things happen, because if we don’t care about the characters, then we won’t care what happens to them.

What love stories do you like?

#Tolkien #Rowling #harrypotter #dicamillo #spiderman #lordoftherings