I love books. This isn't a fondness, it is a lifelong obsession. One of my favorite star trek episodes is the one where the captain receives a "real book" as a present.
Paperbacks are fine. In a pinch the backs of cereal boxes are fodder for a reader, but there is simply nothing like a "real book". The bargain shelf at B & N is a happy hunting ground, but nothing beats a well bound book, with beautiful print and wonderful engravings. They are treasures as well as reading material. They have a feel and smell that is an almost erotic pleasure.
In it's own way, this is a sale pitch because I have discovered a wonderful source for good books. If you have never heard of The Folio Society, pay them a visit. This is an expensive but not outrageously priced habit for someone who wants to build a library that will still be around for your great grandchildren to read.
4 comments:
My other great link is The Library of America. They publish great works and history of the United states. All are boxed and of similar size but with different colored bindings. Perfect both for reading and preservation.
For some odd reason I thought of this episode of Twilight Zone when I read your post.
"Witness Mr. Henry Bemis, a charter member in the fraternity of dreamers. A bookish little man whose passion is the printed page but who is conspired against by a bank president and a wife and a world full of tongue-cluckers and the unrelenting hands of a clock."
Jamie....great post!
my own obessions with books mirrors your's...
Alanboss....you're right...it was the Tale of Two Cities...
Mad...if I remember right...poor little Henry was saved from an atomic bomb blast by being in the bank vault....he ran to the town's library with glee over the fact he could now read all he wanted...but broke his glasses and could barely see a thing without them....
Mad,
That was Burgess Meridith on the Twilight Zone. The poor little henpecked bookworm who finally had all the time in the world to read and couldn't.
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