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!