Thank you for encouraging us to read more books in this age of endless digital interactions! I used to spend many hours in university libraries which always provided a sense of community & security. The smell of books and whispering sounds in a calm atmosphere always helped calm my restless mind. Happy 4th of July.
I agree and appreciate this. For myself, I am more inclined to save great sentences from novels. I love sentences that a high school English teacher would reject but, in the hands of a great writer, they stand alone and are amazing. For example: "My father is a coarse, charming man, a lawyer, and a good one, and when I was flying over the desert and the German pursuit pilot began pouring round after round into my plane (a P-40), I was thinking of how I learned to drive, and how it affected my father." Here's another: "The last two were killed in Puerto Rico in eighteen ninety-eight and in that year he married and brought his bride home to the ranch and he must have walked out and stood looking at his holdings and reflected long upon the ways of God and the laws of primogeniture." The word "and" appears 10 times in these two sentences and every one of them is perfect. One author uses commas everywhere, the other avoids them at all costs. Both are wrong, if you are writing an essay in high school.
Love this, Rishad. Two of my favorite quotes on books (which you may want to file away for future reference):
“When you sell a man a book, you don't sell him 12 inches of ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life.”— Christopher Morley
“When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before.” — Clifton Fadiman
Fabulous. But you knew I’d say that ;)
Thank you for encouraging us to read more books in this age of endless digital interactions! I used to spend many hours in university libraries which always provided a sense of community & security. The smell of books and whispering sounds in a calm atmosphere always helped calm my restless mind. Happy 4th of July.
This was wonderful. And, I think, points to a logical sequel post - favorite bookstores!
I agree and appreciate this. For myself, I am more inclined to save great sentences from novels. I love sentences that a high school English teacher would reject but, in the hands of a great writer, they stand alone and are amazing. For example: "My father is a coarse, charming man, a lawyer, and a good one, and when I was flying over the desert and the German pursuit pilot began pouring round after round into my plane (a P-40), I was thinking of how I learned to drive, and how it affected my father." Here's another: "The last two were killed in Puerto Rico in eighteen ninety-eight and in that year he married and brought his bride home to the ranch and he must have walked out and stood looking at his holdings and reflected long upon the ways of God and the laws of primogeniture." The word "and" appears 10 times in these two sentences and every one of them is perfect. One author uses commas everywhere, the other avoids them at all costs. Both are wrong, if you are writing an essay in high school.