I have begun to read with notebook and pen by my side as well as the coloured pencil I have always used which means my books are still not easily passed on but that i take notes about ideas sparked by the book that I want to consider at another time.
I know there will be those who will think marking a book in any way is some sort of crime but I have no such qualms except when it comes to library books or books from someone else’s shelves.
I do not purchase new books very often so many a second-hand book has been found with notes and lines within its pages. It doesn’t bother me rather I find myself often given a gift as the previous owners marks open up a whole new landscape of thought that I would have missed. I love the fact that each reader finds their own story, truth, ideas, no matter how hard the author may have wished otherwise
Words are so powerful that their energy is felt in a myriad of ways by one reader and then the next reader may catch other energy and so it goes on.
My mark making is two fold, the first is a word a phrase and paragraph that has me stopping and re-reading, rolling round in my mind, placing it gently before me and considering the pleasure, persuasion, passion it elicits in and from me. The second is as long term reference library, the word, phrase, paragraph is so clearly, to my mind and heart, something I know I will return to again and again. Of course this may well take the phrase out of context but once the book is in my hands it’s out of context as far as I’m concerned anyway so my detours just add to its value though of course in re-sell terms surprisingly others don’t agree.
I often purchase books because of their title or a small quote from the words inside the covers if a bell rings somewhere in brain or heart. Of course this has sometimes led to me enjoying the title and the snippet and passing the book to charity shop without a mark or comment written inside but in truth this has really happened very rarely.
I don’t fall for bejewelled covers or clever font, though I can admire both, I fall for a book when it calls to me which has led to a somewhat eclectic personal library I am told but for me it’s about the energy, the possibility and the peace that my shelves house.
For me a book does have a life of its own and I try to listen out for it breathing when considering a purchase. Recently I purchased a second-hand book that travelled thousands of miles to find my hands.
It is a collection of essays and will probably be known by many as it has been alive since 1999 but for me it is new and wonderfully astounding, challenging page by page and more than anything familiar in ways I smile at for it shines light on clouded corners of my heart and mind and I discover the ‘oh yes I know that’ feeling.
My reading is slow and deliberate, slow because I know I really want to savour the texture of the words in my head and heart, even sometimes in my mouth as I feel impelled to read to myself out loud and wonder at the resonance the words set up in that moment. Slow also because reading is a stretch for me physically but word by word the book opens up to me and it makes me smile and that is reason enough to continue.
The book in question is titled ‘Living In The World As If It Were Home’ by Tim Lilburn. Now why wouldn’t I find joy in a book with that title:0) Then I opened the book and got really excited just by the blurb on the flyleaf, I must have read it half a dozen times before I turned a page. After the usual business pages of date published and who the book was dedicated to I came to this –
“The conviction which had come to me was that when one hungers for bread, one does not receive stones… Just as I was certain that desire has in itself an efficacy in the realm of spiritual goodness, whatever its form. I thought it was also possible that it might not be effective in any other realm.”
-Simone Weil, letter
I am only a short way in to this book but I find the bread I am eating is replenishing, renewing and even reigniting thoughts ideas and understanding. I did not know this book would be about looking, really looking and contemplation but then I didn’t need to know, the book called to me.