This is an amazing thread, thank you lil. I found a better-focused image of my stack of books, partly obscured by the lemon tree which is no more. It was just chance that I had Hubski's favorite book in the top-left position. I am most proud of the volume I printed and bound myself, unable to find a a copy to buy (this was 1998, a few months after Amazon's IPO, but Project Gutenberg had been going strong for years). I have it on the authority of an e-Vox that cW is considering adding photos of his stupendous library, but he might need to be assured that there is no requirement that one have read every book depicted. Surely this is a window into one's inner world, or as close as one can get without rifling papers or opening journals. I have often seized an opportunity to scan book titles while a host's back is turned, ardent curiosity overcoming reluctance to pry.
This is definitely a clearer picture. I see now that you have The Little Prince and Grooks and so many other books that have lived with me so long. I'll try and remember to write out my favourite Grook tomorrow. EDIT: The Little Prince in both French and English. I just have the French version.
For a while I thought collecting Little Princes in as many translations as possible would be a worthwhile goal. I got up to four, but there is little point in gathering more if I can't get through a single paragraph. Already the French is a slog, and only possible thanks to familiarity and the illustrations, but El Principito is delightful. The Grooks were an unlikely find in a secondhand store. I should point out that almost all these books were bought used, lest anyone get the impression that the cracked spines are any credit to my literacy.
wasoxygen I couldn't find my copy of Grooks 1 - but I recall from memory - is this correct? Put up in a place where it’s easy to see.
This cryptic admonishment, T. T. T.
When you think how depressingly slowly you climb
It’s good to remember that Things Take Time.
You found poetry on my bookshelf; don't tell _refugee_. I haven't handled those books for a while, and was pleasantly surprised to find a picture of a monkey on a man's shoulder in Grooks, once clipped from a copy of Wilberforce Our Monkey. And Grooks 2 was defaced on 36 pages by glued-in frames from a Muybridge horse series in flipbook fashion. Your recall is nearly spotless. T. T. T.
Put up in a place
where it's easy to see
the cryptic admonishment
T.T.T.
When you feel how depressingly
slowly you climb,
it's well to remember that
Things Take Time.
Yes, thanks, that's it. The picture of the monkey raises another very obscure topic that perhaps flagamuffin might appreciate -- because even if he doesn't write in books, he might well stick related or unrelated clippings into books. Should you request it, I'll shake down some of my books and see what falls out. Meanwhile, I was intrigued by your volume of Kafka's Blue Octavo Notebooks where I found this passage - underlined: “Art flies around truth, but with the definite intention of not getting burnt. Its capacity lies in finding in the dark void a place where the beam of light can be intensely caught, without this having been perceptible before.”don't tell _refugee_.
I definitely will not tell her about your Grooks. I won't mention the Rimbaud either or a Dover edition of someone's selected poetry (I can't quite make out the author). I imagine someone left them in your shelf long ago.
I have stayed out of this thread because, frankly, I find taking pictures and uploading them to Hubski to be...a bit of a hassle. However, I assert that you absolutely can be under 30 and have a bookshelf. I have several. Sigh, you've convinced me now. I will upload a picture of my poetry shelf. (I have three devoted "book-storing" places/shelves. Sadly one is at my parents'. That is the one that goes floor-to-ceiling. The shelf at my apartment now is far too small. And my poetry books all go at my desk for easy access.) Confession: Sometimes I permanently keep books others have "lent" me. Maybe that is what happened with wasoxygen
I do this, ironically I am currently doing this with Rimbaud's Illumunations lil so if that's supposed to be some sort of dirty secret, oops. It's all just surrealist poetry to me! Probably a bit too drunk to be on hubski tonight. EDIT: holy SHIT wasoxygen I just noticed you have Least Heat Moon's book -- one of the best reads ever -- never really encountered another copy of that out in the wildConfession: Sometimes I permanently keep books others have "lent" me. Maybe that is what happened with wasoxygen
Blue Highways was acquired on the strength of a single recommendation from the housemate of a housemate, probably fifteen years ago. We weren't that close, so his opinion wasn't enough to get me to read the book, but such was his enthusiasm that I was never able to select that volume for disposal during any of the various space-saving purges over the years. Now that I have two strong recommendations, odds are good the book will soon be promoted from bookshelf to my bag, and in any case preserved from "trash basura śmieci" stickers.
I saved a million-lira note by pressing it in a book as we used to do with leaves, but now I don't remember which book so it is safe even from me. In my copy of Cien años de soledad (which I am sure I never got through) I found my written copy of a quote from some lit-crit treatment I found at the library:I'll shake down some of my books and see what falls out.
That would be just fine. I used to keep a collection of Things Found in Books, for which used book stores were also a good source. Ephemera like airplane ticket stubs told stories as evocative as those in the books.
Nor is it a problem for readers who hold with Roland Barthes that a text is not an apricot but an onion: not a fruit with a hidden kernel, but "a construction of layers (or levels or systems) whose body contains, finally, no heart, no kernel, no secret, no irreducable principle, nothing except the infinity of its own envelopes -- which envelop nothing other than the unity of its own surfaces."
-- One Hundred Years of Solitude: Modes of Reading by Regina JamesKafka's Blue Octavo Notebooks
Do see about posting an image of your bookshelves, would you please? Perhaps a friend passing through could take some snaps. It's a good practice for insurance purposes too. Unless you have something to hide ... I had no idea there was so much poetry in the house.
The Rimbaud was indeed a gift, but it is a cherished one. The Dover anthology is 100 Best-Loved Poems and represents a genuine attempt to cure myself of an unhealthy lack of appreciation for this art form. I kept it in the bedside table for a while, and probably read "Jabberwocky" most. Also visible is a slim dual-language copy of Erich Kästner's Aus seiner kleinen Versfabrik / From his Small Poetry Business. I kept this in the glove box for years to pass the time during oil changes and safety inspections. Here is one stanza (of five) from Kästner's poem "Some Poets Admit." While you sell soap, we deal in sentiments.
All sighs and sufferings -- as is our way --
We decorate with tasteful ornaments.
And flagellate our hearts three times a day.
yes, you should feel bad. It's worth saving just to give away to a depressed young poet you might run into. Nonetheless, thanks for the mentioning Rimbaud. I just pulled out my bilingual edition of Rimbaud Une Saison en Enfer & Le Bateau Ivre (New Directions Paperbook #9) and reread his biography. Died at 37 after a lot of running away.
That poem was well suited for me today. Thanks for that.
If you mean "leaving me out" as in leaving you off the intial invitation for people to participate, I sent it to people on the most recent photo challenge mailing list. You are absolutely right, however. I must keep you in mind regarding any book-related thoughts. btw, I love love love the box of personal journals. Edit: I think your comment was directed at wasoxygen though, re keeping things secret from you.