Thursday, January 07, 2016

timeless love

-Howard Jacobson

“floating in public drains” 
… that would contribute to the smell, for sure.

I have a house full on judgemental books that tell me to read them and I always reply “someday, my loves, someday” – but it doesn't much matter.  A house doesn't become a home until the books are there, keeping you warm and insulated from the brutish world.  And I loved the “detritus” comment too – my books are full of ticket stubs and train passes and upside-down notes of plans with friends long gone.  My books are, simply, mine – stocked full of the ephemera of a life lived often too quickly.   They are not precious museum pieces – they are battered, travelled, loved.  You can absolutely tell a book read from a book merely owned.  My collection would never be accepted at the public library.  I think the judgemental books are just jealous, wanting a dog-ear to call their own.