I spent parts of my summer reading Spook trying to get a feel for Mary Roach’s writing style, how her voice would carry through the words on the page. This week at Stockton we all had a chance to sit and listen to Mary Roach to discuss her experiences and her books. Roach was a refreshing change from the duller speakers I have had the chance to listen to in the past, she quickly captured the attention of her audience by discussing how hyenas gave birth in the most peculiar way.

Roach also spoke about how curiosity is a key to her writing style and her life. She stressed that asking questions is one of the most important things one can do for one’s self. Our college career is a time for us all to dig deep and discover new things. It’s a time for us to not accept things at face value to admit we don’t know, but we will look into it more. She told us the more that we know, the more we will come to realize we don’t actually know that much, but you we always learn more.

What I enjoyed most was Roach’s clarification on the closing of Spook. When reading the book and going on this long journey with her from India to the end, I was invested in her story, and I wanted to know her final conclusion and thoughts on the afterlife. However she just ended the book abruptly with just a “What the hell. I believe in ghosts.” At her presentation she explained why she believed in ghosts. She claimed that ghost stories are fun and she didn’t want to be in a world where there are no possibilities of ghosts. I was glad to have that closure and the knowledge that if she could go back and change it she would. She also closed her speech with her belief of what may happen to the soul after death. She thought that, “When you die you go back to where you were before you were born, wherever that is.” There still is no proof of that but, according to her there is a difference between what you know and what you believe.

Mary Roaches book wasn’t a “page turner” but I enjoyed the chance to hear her tell us her stories more than I did reading them from the page. I really did enjoy her speaking and maybe from this experience I will go find another book by her and give it a chance. Or maybe not…