I always pack a book when we go on a cruise; in fact, I pack three. I can’t go to sleep at night unless I’m reading a book I’ve read over and over. If I’m reading a new book, I can’t put it down and will read late into the night. I do this at home as well. If I know how the story is going to end, then I can sleep. If I don’t know how the story is going to end, then I can’t sleep. So, I am always reading two books — one during the day hours when I can and one when I’m going to bed to sleep at night. Works for me.
It was new to me that most Royal Caribbean cruise ships have libraries. Below is a photo of me in one of the most beautiful libraries I have seen on a cruise ship. It is the Adventure of the Seas. There was a great selection of books with plenty of room to sit and read right there in the library. A nice quiet place that few people frequented.
My next encounter with a great library on a cruise ship was on the Serenade of the Seas. The Serenade had just completed a cruise around the world. (We were not on that cruise around the world.) The picture below shows that library, and it was packed with books for those cruisers on a long voyage. Those books were double-stacked. I crawled around the bottom row to see the books behind the front books. I spent a lot of time crawling around there. And, wow, did I find a hidden surprise.
My favorite book during my lifetime has been ‘The Stand’ by Stephen King. On this cruise in that cruise library was a Stephen King signed copy of ‘The Stand.’ I found it the first time I was in the library. I took it back to our stateroom and thumbed through it. Yes, I think it really was his signature, but I wasn’t sure because I have never seen his signature. I couldn’t start reading that book again (have read it probably 50 times) because I would not have done anything else on the ship except read my favorite book. I returned it to the library. I wanted to keep it, to steal it, but I didn’t. I wanted someone else to enjoy it.
Just think, that book, my favorite book, had been all around the world before we came on the ship.
Writing a book to me is like a huge complex word puzzle that is so huge that it could surround the entire world. It is huge, really huge. You have plotting, character development, setting, theme, conflict, hero, anti-hero, symbolism, and protagonist. The writer is the one who puts those complex pieces together to make a book. I have so much admiration for anyone who can write a book whether it’s crap or a brilliance by words.
Almost every day I went back to the library to see if someone else had found that treasure. It was still there. I would tuck it in a little bit more out of sight so no one would see it. Change the places where I would put it. What was I doing? Was I plotting to steal it?
I cannot steal. But I had an overwhelming temptation to become a thief. I had found a rare gem of a book with the author’s signature. What to do? What to do? Each day. Each day it was still there. I would touch it. I don’t want to say ‘fondle,’ because that makes me sound sick in the head, but I think there was a bit of fondling going on with the book. But I kept putting it back.
On the last day of the cruise, I went to Guest Services and asked if I could keep one of the books in the library. I was told, “Oh, yes, help yourself. You can take any book or books you would like.”
Grinning like a crazy woman, I ran to the library. Why hadn’t I thought to ask before then??
Nooooooooooo!!!! It was gone. My book was gone. I crawled around on the floor, checking each book in that round book display. It took several hours. The book was not there.
Someone else on that cruise ship loved that book as much as I did. It didn’t help the hurt I felt inside at the loss of such a precious item, but I knew only a person who loved that book would have taken it. Maybe they had checked with Guest Services before I. Maybe. Or maybe they just took it because it is such a glorious book. (I was trying to find some good in the person who had MY book.)
Or, they simply read the dust cover, became interested in the story and wanted to read it. Maybe they had seen one or more of the movies that were based on the book and wanted to read the words. The written word is always better than a movie.
The movies were okay, but the book is where you really get the feelings of fear, the concern for mankind in the future. I have that same fear now for our world. But Stephen King wrote of it many years ago, as he has done on many subjects. A seer? I think he might be.
I will always remember this incident with sadness. I lost something.
But I still have my old copy. I hope whoever took that book loves it as much as I would have loved it. Maybe they crept to the library on a daily basis to check to see if it was still there. Maybe we passed each other on the stairs or in the hallways. Maybe we were side by side on a lounge chair in the solarium reading a book. Maybe we ate at a table near one another in Main Dining or the Windjammer. (I would never think of sticking a fork in someone’s eye over a book, never. Hah!!)
That book will make me always remember gator teeth, cornstalks, deep friendships, betrayal, and true patriotism. Again, it’s one of the greatest books by one of the greatest authors of my lifetime.
Wouldn’t it be something if we ran into Stephen King on a cruise ship??? All of us would recognize him.
The ship would probably tilt to the side when we all rushed to him. That’s the life of a celebrity, a literary celebrity. Put a long beard on him, fake nose, black eyeglasses and a face mask. He might get past us then, but only then.
Thanks for reading and letting me share my feeling of loss, but enjoy the libraries these cruise ships have. It might lighten the weight of your suitcase.
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