A Loss of Words

I'm not sure if this happens to anyone else, but whenever I am asked my favorite book I instantly forget everything I have ever read. My roommate and I were chatting and the topic of books came up. She asked me what my favorite book of all time was. Instantly, I seized up; as preference questions so often make me do. I fell silent, but not for lack of trying. I wracked my brain but couldn't think of a single book I've read, let alone one I enjoyed. In that moment I felt like an Ovidian character who suffered from a loss of speech. I could sympathize with Callisto who could not pray to the gods, and Acteon who couldn't call out to his hunting dogs. I was a prisoner in my head. Ovid makes it very clear throughout the Metamorphosis that when characters can no longer express themselves, they no longer have a way of existing in the world. Unlike the characters in The Metamorphosis, I was luckily able to glance at my book shelf and break the bonds of silence. I can only hope that next time my mind goes blank I have my references close at hand to ensure my continued existence, if only for the moment.