On Books
“That book sat on my various shelves for decades until I got around to it, and then it seemed to be written especially for me. I hope this provides some hope to the other unread books surrounding me who are wondering what will happen to them when I die. I don’t have the heart to tell them they will all be sold or recycled and will never see one
... See more“The best moments in reading are when you come across something—a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things—that you’d thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you’ve never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it’s as if a hand has come out and taken yours.”
Ruby LaRocca • A Constitution for Teenage Happiness
“In the summer of 2008, when I was working as a beleaguered junior editor at a news magazine, I used to distract myself by visiting the Strand Bookstore, near Union Square in Manhattan, and rescuing one yellowing, waterlogged book from the dollar carts outside. There was a bizarre urgency to these missions for me—I kept imagining the fate of the
... See moreWhat I’m in search of is maybe hard to explain in a neat sentence, but, maybe, it’s some sense of resonance. You know when you’re reading and you’re like “Oh, this person is saying this thing I’ve been thinking or feeling forever, but didn’t know how to express in words?” That’s a beautiful feeling when you can see yourself more clearly through... See more
On the value of being a beginner
Amen! Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:
"It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticise those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or... See more
Andy Adamssubstack.com“There are ducks on the farm and at one point Abrams says to Sebald, ‘I have always kept ducks, even as a child, and the colours of their plumage, in particular the dark green and snow white, seemed to me the only possible answer to the questions that are on my mind.’ It is an odd thing to say, but Sebald’s book is a long walk of oddities. I did
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