Note
The thrill of discovering a book on your own, with no help from any of your better-read friends and family. Simply finding it on the shelf, bring it home, falling in love. Realizing that the author has so many more, with overwhelming joy, brings tears. A reason to continue! You want to tell everyone, and yet also to keep it a secret. As if you could keep a Nobel Prize winner a secret. Sharing a favorite book or writer with a close friend can feel like sharing a lover, particularly if you have reason to her believe her feelings will be as strong as your own. It comes as both a relief and an insult if that does not turn out to be the case, and such jealousy if it is true.
Once, my mother even had to tell me I did not have dibs on Faulkner.
Post a Comment