|The book, I wish, that was|
You know what I miss...I miss that as adults we do not have any “choose your own adventure books” (at least not to my knowledge). Maybe its because when we're little the idea of getting to "choose our own adventure" is so novel. Whereas adults are no longer bound to the familial chains; every day we (in essence) are choosing our own adventure.
As kids our entire lives are planned out for us. Even the friends we get to pick are limited to our parent's socio-economic equals. The books we read are given to us, the God we pray to is chosen for us, the clothes we wear, the time we wake up and the time we go to bed are all planned out. For most children, a book where you get to "chose your own adventure," is one of the few times you are free to wonder, limited only by the pages in the book and your imagination.
Why don't we get those as adults? A book we can open and see what our future may hold if we made certain choices and went down specific paths. Imagine learning one of life's irreparable lessons only to pull out your book mark, snuggle into bed, and leave your mistakes behind in tiny black print on a little rectangular cream colored page.
We would be free to live vicariously through an imaginary version of ourselves. It would be a version of us that could lack some or all of our impulse control. We would have a means by which to satiate our hedonistic desires without having to worry about mortal (or moral) consequences.
It would need to be realistic though. I mean, it would need to have all the shit that can and does really happen, in print. We would know that certain choices would lead to dead ends...doors closed...and there would be no "happy endings," just real ones. The difference being that in the book, we would really be free to really choose our own adventures.
In this book we could try things that in real life we would not dare--only to discover that this fiction is not too far from reality. Some stories would leave us in places that real life limitations would forbid.
We wouldn't be judged, we wouldn't be criminals, we wouldn't lose friends-or loved ones, we wouldn't end up in prison, or dead, we wouldn't go hungry, we wouldn't wage wars, we wouldn't steal, or cheat...because we'd know. We'd know what the ending would be. We would learn. Though the price would not be precious time wasted or a life lost in vain, it would be sweat on our brow--tiny words that indicated an ending to a long journey, followed by the soft thud of our books closing. Only to rest for another day where we choose a new life entirely.
Of course these books wouldn't be analogous to the experience gained by trying things in real life, but we would at least have a sneak preview. We'd be better informed about those "what if's" that sometimes seem more appealing in theory than in practice.
If you know of any good "choose your own adventure" books, let me know where I can get my hands on one...if not...maybe it's time to write one.