Correction, we live beyond the back of the beyond. Young persons have been warned by parents, clerics, newspaper vendors and the authorities not to approach the village. Poor souls are lost forever as, dazzled by our sharpened pitchforks, they are lured into the great abyss but I digress.
I was looking at the Grauniad electronically this morning when I read this article on the charm of battered books. David Barnett claims:-
I'm not sure how long I've had that Shirley Jackson book. Ten years at least; probably 15. Maybe more. I've read it perhaps half a dozen times. And each time I take it from the shelf, another sheaf of pages has come loose. The glue in the binding has deteriorated some more. The spine is scuffed and ripped, the cover is fading by degrees. But I could no more consider getting rid of it than I could put a bullet in the head of a geriatric dog.Books, volume and existence of, is a matter of conflict in Buddhist Pizza Towers.
Herself has an extensive library, in a range of conditions in a number of locations. I have always made gentle protestations as to the order, convenience, location and condition of her library.
I am now resigned to this and will undergo an extensive period of re-education.
Two books good, two hundred books better!
