bibliophile

in my freshman year of college, i took a course in contemporary fiction. one of the short stories we read was entitled 'the handsomest drowned man in the world,' and was my introduction to gabriel garcia marquez.

with quotes like this (below), i was an instant fan.

Even though they were looking at him, there was no room for him in their imagination... they also knew that everything would be different from then on, that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors so that no one in the future would dare whisper, ‘the big blob finally died, too bad the handsome fool has finally died,’ because they were going to paint their house fronts gay colors to make Esteban's memory eternal, and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones, and planting flowers on the cliffs so that in future years at dawn, the passengers on the great liners would awaken, suffocated by the smell of gardens on the high seas, and the captain would have to come down from the bridge in his dress uniform, with his astrolabe, his pole star, and his row of war medals, and pointing to the promontory of roses on the horizon, he would say in fourteen languages, ‘look there, where the wind is so peaceful now that it’s gone to sleep beneath the beds, over there, where the sun’s so bright that the sunflowers don’t know which way to turn, yes, over there, that’s Esteban’s village.

i loved the images marquez was able to create...the story stepped out of the confines of paper pages and took root in my imagination. and i was off to the book store for more of his work, most notably 100 years of solitude and love in the time of cholera. these books have been in my possession for nearly 13 years now, and i have read neither.

the other night, i saw a trailer for the movie version of 'love', and i had to consider why it was that i had not yet read the book. ultimately, i decided that it was out of fear.

my favorite book of all-time is les miserables, and after reading it, i got my hands on every piece of hugo's work i could find. invariably i was disappointed. and not just disappointed, but nearly devastated. i could not understand how an author could pen a novel so clearly divinely inspired, only to have his other works fall so short in my mind. there are those that will disagree with my feelings about his other works, the hunchback of notre dame foremost among them, but for me they were sick jests.

unbeknownst to me, i believe, that that created an irrational fear of being let down. i had so loved the handsomest drowned man, and could not put myself through that same disappointment if his other works did not measure up. so they got shelved.

usually i am working on three or four books at a time, and have the 'top 5 books to complete' with me. this has been number 5 for as long as i can remember, and as such, it was close by. when i saw the trailer, i knew it had to be made a priority, as i simply don't believe in seeing a movie before reading the book, unless i have no intentions of ever reading the book.

i've made it a few chapters in, and so far, there is no disappointment looming. in fact, i find that same imagery and storytelling mastery is just as present has it was in that short story read long ago, and i can't wait to finish!

in other book news...the geek blogs (namely engadget and gizmodo) are all abuzz with posts about amazon's new 'kindle' digital book reader. the reader will allow you to wirelessly download from amazon to read (ultimately) any book you can imagine wanting, including those hard to get and out of print books.

i typically like to be on the front edge of new technology, but in this case, i find myself torn. the advantages are unquestionably great. first, that ability to easily access books that are hard to find is amazing. and, since i am someone who typically travels with 6 or 7 books, my luggage and my arms would certainly thank me.

on the other hand, there is something about holding a book..breaking the spine, dog earring those memorable pages, or whipping out the highlighter/pen, that is immensely gratifying. that tactile sensation that fosters a perfect read, is not something that can easily be replaced by a digital tablet. so the question is, do the benefits outweigh the sacrifices? i know there are some fellow bibliophiles reading, and i'm curious about your thoughts...do share...

(ps aaron-i really am still working on 'clash')