still more from "Surprised by Joy"
"There hung over this image an atmosphere which I dislike as much as any I ever breathed, a blend of the macabre and the weakly, wretchedly, hopelessy pathetic - the dreary miasma of the Pagan Hades."
I just think those last seven words are so beautiful together, so poetic.
"One other thing that Arthur taught me was to love the bodies of books. I had always respected them. My brother and I might cut up stepladders without scruple; to have thumb-marked or dog's-eared a book would have filled us with shame. But Arthur did not merely respect, he was enamoured; and soon, I too. The set up of the page, the feel and smell of the paper, the differing sounds that different papers make as you turn the leaves, became sensuous delights. This revealed to me a flaw in [my tutor]. How often have I shuddered when he took a new classical text of mine in his gardener's hands, bent back the boards till they creaked, and left his sign on every page.
"'Yes, I remember,' said my father. 'That was old Knock's one fault.'
"'A bad one,' said I.
"'An all but unforgivable one,' said my father."
Why on earth would anyone buy a Kindle?
I just think those last seven words are so beautiful together, so poetic.
"One other thing that Arthur taught me was to love the bodies of books. I had always respected them. My brother and I might cut up stepladders without scruple; to have thumb-marked or dog's-eared a book would have filled us with shame. But Arthur did not merely respect, he was enamoured; and soon, I too. The set up of the page, the feel and smell of the paper, the differing sounds that different papers make as you turn the leaves, became sensuous delights. This revealed to me a flaw in [my tutor]. How often have I shuddered when he took a new classical text of mine in his gardener's hands, bent back the boards till they creaked, and left his sign on every page.
"'Yes, I remember,' said my father. 'That was old Knock's one fault.'
"'A bad one,' said I.
"'An all but unforgivable one,' said my father."
Why on earth would anyone buy a Kindle?
posted by melilotnfosco | 5:59 PM
6 Comments:
I had to look up what a Kindle was, but once I did I must say I am in complete agreement with you! I enjoy reading some things online--amateur works, some fan fiction, etc.-- but nothing replaces a good, hard-bound book in my opinion! My husband and I want to eventually replace all of our paperbacks with hardbacks for our library that we now have--minus the actual bookshelves which will come sometime in the next few years...
(you will be horrified to discover that our children got a hold of our LOTR series and ripped it to shreds, so that is first on our list to replace :-D)
oh heavens, not lotr! yes, that must be first on the replace list!
that is a beautifully well-written phrase (although i mean more than that, but i don't know quite how to say it).
and i completely understand about books. sometimes i sit with a particular book on my lap (more often than not, it's a 'little house' one - my lotr - and just run my fingers over the pages, taking it all in.
oh, and that 'weakly, wretchedly, hopelessy pathetic' reminds me of 'willing to tell you, wanting to tell you, waiting to tell you' (or whichever order it is), which henry higgins attributes to mr. doolittle's being welsh. c.s. lewis's father's family was from wales.
"i would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."
(anna quindlen)
that would be me
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