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Joined: Oct 2006
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Reading your list on the merits of hardcover books brought back a memory of my English teacher, MaryVirginia Rosenfeld, from John Adams High School in South Bend, Indiana. She said she never bothered to lock her car because "nobody steals books", and in 30 years she has never been proven wrong. In 1970 she distributed a bibliography entitled "Great Books For a Lifetime's Reading"; I am still working on it. My dear Miss Rosenfeld, now curled up in the most comfortable reading chair in the great beyond (it has excellent light plus tea and cookies at hand), you are never forgotten.

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I was not a fan of my 10th grade English teacher until many years after I graduated. However, one thing she used to say all the time that has stuck with me is this: "No intelligent person is ever bored."

After some years, I've discovered that while it is not exactly true, it is a very close approximation to the truth. Intelligent people can keep their minds occupied nearly anywhere, nearly any time. One habit is to keep books (as well as paper and pen) everywhere - every room of the house, both cars, all the backpacks, at work - any place one is likely to find one's self stranded for any length of time. And oddly, I have never had a book stolen from me, though a few loaners have failed to make their way home.

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Loosing them to theft would be easier to take than loosing them to careless borrowers. At least you would not ask yourself half your life
who the h it was that borrowed this and that particular favorite book you keep searching after.

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When I was graduated from high school, my English teacher bought me a copy of Clifton Fadiman's Lifetime Reading Plan and urged me to pursue it. I did and have never regretted that commitment. I also deeply appreciate her nudge in the direction of a rich banquet of thought and expression.

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Come on Jackie! You can do it.There are many authors of whom you only have to read one.
Personally I would have chosen Dostojevski over Tolstoy. And I miss Beowolf, but I guess everyone would make a few changes in the list.
Father Steve,honestly,you done them all?

(there is a beautiful movie by Kobayashi called 'K(w)aidan', short ghost stories from the 19th century , one of which is called 'Hoichi with the ears', about the battle of the Genji (see list) against the Heike ; fascinating! The movie dates from the 60-70 -ties. It might be hard to trace. But is so beautiful.)
And I saw a fantastic woodprint on the subject in the Leiden Museum.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwaidan_%28film%29

Last edited by BranShea; 10/21/06 01:47 AM.
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Nuh-uh. Jackie wont read Shakespeare

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well, looking at that list just embarrasses me. :¬ P

my ex-wife inherited the complete Harvard Classics, and I made a brief attempt to read all of those, but alas, I was quickly unsuccessful...


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"Act now while the supply lasts, and you can buy a rare facsimile of an 11th-century, illuminated German manuscript for only $16,425. After
March 15, the price will rise to $19,205. This is what the publisher
has told prospective German buyers interested in acquiring a 410-page,
gilded copy of a pericope."
Craig R. Whitney; Medieval Marketing; The New York Times; Nov 9, 1994.

Advertisements like these always cheer me up to a high degree.Especially the "for only" is hilarious. Come to look at it it's almost a gift. Good grief , it's a facsimile, a smiling fake and a pericope, meaning only a part of a book as well.

I guess however something like this might be attractive to thieves.

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but alas, I was quickly unsuccessful...

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