A Story within a Story

I started reading the "Ocean of Stories" tonight, and it is a crazy pace of story within a story within a story. Each tale informs the previous and the following story, which makes me feel like the narrative is circling something or alluding to something that it won't say until the end like a moral or won't say at all. It's kind of like this economics teacher I had in high school. He's Skyline's "Ocean of Notions." Almost everyday, he'd tell us a story about his life or life in general; but none of his stories were really a singular tale. Take, for example, his legendary "Cindy story," a tale of love confused, lost and regained before being lost again. Officially, this story lasts 2 days (he will take two days out of every semester to tell his tale), but he spent weeks building up to it with other stories which touched on the Cindy story or related to it or was even part of it. Whenever he got close to that story with another story he'd say, "A story for another time, kids." Because he has so many stories, he says that line on average 3 times per story, linking the one he's telling with three others. It's crazy how stories connect like that. They are so delicious in that way, because they never end or get old. I know some stories told over and over again can seem tiring or people say they are tired of them, but I think everyone really delights in old favorites, because they inspire memories and experiences, more stories really. I think that's why I liked Rushdie's book so much. His story, with all its stories and pop culture references (Got to love the Walrus), brings up memories of other stories I've heard and lived. Which brings me back to the "Ocean of Stories" which is a good place to end, because I now have to leave the library; it's closing.