THE PARABLE OF SIX SAVVY READERS

Six book analysts decided to form a review group. They called themselves The Illumination, with their goal being to shine light on excellent stories, thereby separating them from the quagmire of mundane books currently being foisted upon the public. Each expert was a professional, and they each had consumed thousands of books of all types.

The popularity of these experts was so keen that readers sent them hundreds of questions and queries every month, asking for their recommendations on a wide variety of novels. The experts were pleased to share their knowledge, especially with book lovers who asked them thoughtful questions. One day, our six analysts were given a challenge by an assertive young writer. The writer, it seemed, had a dilemma: he couldn’t figure out how to define his recently published book.

This writer had racked his brain in search of what should have been a simple answer. He had read about The Illumination and decided these experts had so much knowledge between them, that they could—after digesting his story—provide him with the solution at the snap of their fingers.

Most often a book’s theme is self-evident. Novels define themselves by structure or genre. Some stories are mysterious in nature; they construct a puzzle in the mind of the reader. Other tales follow logical patterns and reveal the rich tapestry of the characters within. Still other plots thrive on emotion and conflict. These episodes take the reader on a journey through the murky travails of everyday human life.

The Illumination group met monthly. Intrigued as they were by the young writer’s puzzle, they had taken up the challenge to assist him in defining his story. So they were gathered now after dark, sitting in a familiar parlor around a large oaken table. In the center had been placed a copy of Shoot For The Stars.

The group’s head, a thin man with a goatee, spoke first. “As you know, we’ve been tasked with defining the nature of this book that sits before us. I, Goatee, as group leader, shall start things off. He stretched his hand to the center, laying his palm on the cover of the book, like a witness does a bible. “This story,” continued Goatee, “is about the founding years of professional football. It is a story about Curly Lambeau, the man who built the Green Bay Packers from scratch. With so apparent a football theme, it is obviously a sports book.”

The reader to his left eyed him curiously. She wore horned rimmed glasses and bore the image of a librarian. “You must have read it wrong, my friend. While the story arc is about sports, the message this book conveys is that of a love story. It spins the life of Tom Hearden, a Curly Lambeau protégé. And true, it reveals how he sets about on his lifelong dream—to one day coach of the Green Bay Packers. Yet at its heart it is a tale about romance: Tom’s love of his boyhood team. The love of his life, however, is Marion, his wife. The primary narrative is about their journey together as a couple. Thus, it reads as a love story.” She pulls her hand back from the center. Then she leans back in her chair with a satisfied smile.

Our third reader displays a pinched face, and thus we call the diminutive man Prune. “My learned colleagues are both off base,” he says, thin arm extended. “To me this story is a memoir. Our young writer interviews his father, who is ninety-three-years old. From his wizened perspective, he reveals the journey of his personal friend and mentor, unveiling Tom Hearden’s life from his time as a young boy, his love for the Packers, and unmasking how Tom was almost—but for a health failure—named head coach of the Packers. Thus it is a memoir, I say. One which transports us on a wonderful journey through the modern era of our nation’s past century.”

“I have a different take on it,” said our fourth reader, a man in a gray fedora. “The more I progressed, the more it began to read as a motivational story. Tom is dogged in pursuit of his dream; so dogged, in fact, that the reader cannot help but cheer him along. Setting goals, self-discipline, perseverance. Even the title Shoot For The Stars emphasizes the pursuit of one’s lifelong dream. It is a motivational book.”

“Poppycock,” proclaims our fifth expert.” She had blond, upswept hair in the fashion of Doris Day. She placed her dainty palm upon the book. “As you know, I was a New York editor for fifteen years. I certainly know a mystery when I read one.”

“Mystery?” protested the Librarian. “Where is the conflict, my dear? Where is the crime?” “Tension ripples beneath the surface.” Doris wafted her free hand. “Questions abound: Will Tom ever make it to the mountain top? Will he fulfill his dream to one day coach the Packers? Or will he be waylaid along his journey?”

Prune gives her a searching look. “Waylaid by whom? Who, pray tell, might the villain be?”

“The villain—my good fellow—is a most dastardly antagonist, one known to us all. He is none other than Father Time.” Heads nodded and they became quiet while digesting the suggestion of metaphor. Goatee finally broke the silence. He extended his hand once more to the tome in the table’s center. “My good friends,” he said, with aplomb, “we have here before us an amazing book. When we all can read the identical work, and each come to a different conclusion on how best to label it, we have a gem of a story sitting before us.” His colleagues prompted him to continue. “Therefore,” Goatee went on, “our conclusion is solid: this story is not only a sports story, but a lesson in history as well. It is simultaneously a memoir, as well as being filled with motivational advice. Furthermore”—a quick nod to Doris—“it is a mystery in its own right, a tale filled with suspense to the very end.”

“Such being the case, how do we then define it for the writer?” asked Fedora. “Isn’t that the mission we took upon ourselves?” Goatee roped them all with a look. “It is a blended plot, multi-dimensional, one that readers of all ages can enjoy. Anyone with a taste for a splendid story will be satisfied when they turn the final page of Shoot For The Stars. I will pass our critique along to our young writer friend. His novel scores with flying colors.” It was rare, indeed, for these six savvy experts to agree that a book could be so many different things to such a variety of readers, and still be the same story. Like the famous parable of the six blind men and the elephant, it took a truly wondrous tale to be so satisfying to them all.