Hilary was a fast reader and dreaded nothing more than to be stranded without print. He would read anything sooner than nothing, fragments of sporting news torn up in a lavatory, a motor journal on a hotel table, an out-of-date evening paper picked up on a bus. He would covetously eye the books held by strangers in trains, forcing them into conversation until he could offer his own read book in exchange for something new. But if, by ill-luck, he was reduced to reading nothing but haphazard chance finds that offered his mind only the bare fact of being print, he would become dreary, unhappy, uneasy, like a gourmet who suffers from indigestion after eating bad food.Ooh yes, that's me! What about you? Do you read everywhere too?
Little Boy Lost, Marghanita Laski
PS This is an absolute delight of a book. Have any of you read it?
I never travel anywhere without reading material. It is more necessary than oxygen.
ReplyDeleteI relate too!
ReplyDeleteIt all began long.... ago, I remember reading everything in sight even the Cornflakes packet. It was definately better than nothing.
It sounds like my kind of book.
I so, so understand his compulsion!! Love the photo, too!
ReplyDeleteYes, I can relate! There are always at least two books in my purse. One I'm well into, and a newer one. Because....you never know, do you?
ReplyDeleteYep! That's me! I used to read the cereal box at breakfast, the toothpaste tube while brushing...
ReplyDeleteGlad to know I'm not alone, Girlies!
ReplyDeleteI wish I was like this! I make myself read, because I'm such a wriggle pot that I'd prefer to be 'doing'something...or looking at illustrations or art, or making something.
ReplyDeleteBut homeschooling has definitely made me hunger for books more and more...now that I have been introduced to such delightful material.
Butter Fly
This passage describes me perfectly, as reading is my personal passion. I also enjoyed your "Bad Books" post, as I, too, read what some would term twaddle and it never ruined reading for me. Those books may have served to fan the flame! Now my tastes are more selective, but I still allow my dc some "mind candy" every now and again.
ReplyDeleteMy husband sometimes bemoans the fact that I cannot leave the house without a pile of books under my arm... why a pile? Because you never can tell what you'll be in the mood to read, or where you'll need to quote from when talking about all the pondering over recent readings.
ReplyDelete:)
Amy