my christmas miracle

I hope everyone had nice holidays and happy 2009! I had my own little Christmas miracle this year and it was especially nice because it involved a book: I found myself a nice readable copy of Middlemarch by George Eliot.

I have been wanting to read Middlemarch since fall 2003. Every time I read a Middlemarch reference, I cringe and wonder why I still haven't read it. At first I thought the length of the book was the deterrant. Middlemarch sounds like a book I'd like, but can I commit to 800 or so pages? Well, I am not sure, but I would sure like to try because I REALLY WANT TO READ MIDDLEMARCH.

Still, I was not reading Middlemarch. And it soon became clear to me that the problem wasn't so much that the book was a tome. It's just that I could not find a nice copy of the book. And I suppose it IS tangentially related to the thickness of the book because if it were a shorter book, I might endure an ugly copy. However, given that it is a book that will accompany for many hours, I could not stand to read an ugly copy. You can perhaps go on a date with someone you are not in love with, but can you do the same with marriage? Same concept with books...

Anyway, Middlemarch soon became my White Whale. Every time I go to a bookstore, I sought out the book. I would find a copy, get excited and hopeful, approach it, pick it up, and subsequently realize that this is not the book I was looking for. Sure it was Middlemarch and all the words were there, but no, it was not the right book.

I was not looking for a nice literary academic copy. No no... what I wanted a pretty book because reading involves all senses. But alas the copies I found were usually paperback (not nice trade paperback, just paperback) with ugly newsprint quality paper with even an uglier font. Not only that, the ink was cheap and bleeding everywhere so the letters were collapsing on themselves. And the sound the paper made as I tried to turn the page was not pleasant. Don't even get me started on the smell.

Is it so much to ask to read great works for literature between nice sturdy covers? Can't the words be accompanied by classy cover and spine designs? I want off white, not gray, background and letters that are so thin and fit they look like they work out.

We don't read enough great novels. I believe the fact that the readily available classics are cheaply made these days contribute to this problem. Do people believe that because the words are so lovely that the physical manifestation of them are irrelevant? Can other readers ignore the awkwardly sized, newspaper quality papers that smell bad because the world depicted in the story are more beautiful? I certainly can't. If we make the classics even as nice as new chick lit novels, I am sure people will read more "Jane Eyre"s and "A Room with a View"s.

Going back to my White Whale, it all ended fabulously at the Strand. I have almost given up by this point but I felt compelled to check as to feed my obsession. So I go to the fiction section and under Eliot, amist ugly copies of Silas Miner, I see a promising looking copy of Middlemarch. It's not an academic edition, but it was beautiful! A nice hardcover elegant copy left there just for me. It was six dollars and arrived at the bookstore on Dec 13, 2008 for me to have a christmas miracle. Or at least that's what I'd like to believe.

My 2009 reading year kicks off with Middlemarch and all is well.

Hope all is well with you too, and happy reading!

signs of the Times...

There are many things that signal the end of the holiday season. The holiday lights on people's lawns go dark, the Rockefeller tree comes down, it becomes uncool to pay so much to go ice skating, and the stores sales that offer such a nice bargain don't come with the cheery holiday decorations.

But for me, what shakes me out of the holiday spirit is the shock of the Sunday Times that immediately follows the Christmas day. All of a sudden, for the four dollars you fork over, you get a very thin newspaper. I know the Sunday Times is still a tome compared to the weekday one, but today, as I picked up my copy at the local stationary, I couldn't believe how trimmed down it was.

I thought for a second that maybe some sections were missing. But I go to this particular store because the owner left out a section only once in the six months I've been going there... and it was a business section so all was well. I will never go to that one walgreens that left out the book review. So I knew all the sections were there.

And when I got home, I did confirm nothing was missing. But alas, gone are the glossy advertisements I throw out without reading. And every section was extremely thin, so thin that it was actually fold-able. The main news section didn't have page after page of Macy's ads. when i turn a page, i actually found an article. And yes it seems like all the articles are there. and the thin sections, as I've said, are not as unwieldy as before making the reading easier.

But I miss the advertisements with happy fashionable people wearing expensive things. The articles about Zimbabwe doesn't depress me as much when it is sandwiched in between an ad featuring santa and sweaters from Saks fifth ave. And while I know the ads will return (i hope) at the end of 2009, I am not so sure about the thinning job and real estate listings. I remember the time when there had to be a whole separate section-like-thingy for real estate listings. I was so annoyed at having another thing to recycle. but now it is attacheed to the real estate section almost like an afterthought.

Growing up is all about realizing that nothing can be counted on and everything is only for now. I do hope though that I can for years to come count on thick sunday times to unpack every december.

a link

From a very lazy blogger, a link to an excellent essay about book collecting:

The Well-tended Bookshelf