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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
yes, WO'N, there is something special about books, and the worlds they take us too.. far away from the mundane, or worse, world we might inhabit.
i remember lying in summer sands, reading the last 100 pages of Wuthering Heights, that summer between grade school and HS. the white sands and cool ocean breezes, the broad Atlanic gone, as i climbed up the rocky craigs over the heather, looking for Heathcliff!
and that fall reading great expectations.-- and later that year, Jane Eyre.
oh, the sheer luxury of having a library in your own house, even if you are a poor cousin, and a window to sit in, and read. less than 10 years later, when i was married, and we bought an old (victorian house) with a bay window.. that sagged, and leaked, and that i insistened be repaired, not torn off, and replaces with a modern bow window.. and after all the work was done, i had a quiet window to sit in, with a small window seat, and the rest of the room was fitted up as a library. the old fire place had long before been boarded up, and the old chimney now was used by the gas fired boiler, but i embroidered a fancy screen in crewel work to hide that fact.
we had to add a lolly column under the beam in the basement to support the wall with the bookcases.. but what a room! i felt for the first time in my life, like i had a place i belonged, that was mine. i felt rich! to have a room as library, and all the books to fill it, and window seat to sit in and read. what more could one ask for, or want in the world.
and i had money too, not a lot, but enough that i could buy a book if i wanted to. not a paperback, but a real book..
and a dictionary! and not just any dictionary, but the OED!its way to heavy to pull into your lap and just read, but what a joy! a complete dictionary! words, nestled like jewels in the a dark blue case.
i read gluttonously, devouring words.. a book needs to be swallowed whole, and then, read again, in sweet, indulgent leisure, each word, slowly being touched, examined, and taken in, like a small rich chocolate bonbon, held, and allowed to melt slowly melt, till it releases it's flavor and texture. it is smooth and sweet? yes, that's nice.. but, this word, is rough, and acrid, and almost unpleasant, but for the contrast.. or does it suprise you, with hidden depths of meaning? or a sudden sharpness? what joy, first to read the story, whole, then to read the words, seperate, and yet connected to the whole.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460 |
<a book needs to be swallowed whole>
Yes, of Troy. For nearly 20 years there's been a poster stuck on our family room wall with a quote from Sir Francis Bacon: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." Words to live by, indeed!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
to have a room as library, and all the books to fill it, and window seat to sit in and read. what more could one ask for, or want in the world.
Ohhh, Helen, isn't that the truth! How I would LOVE to have that kind of a room ! Our house is totally unsuited for something like that.
I've been thinking, lately, of the things we have in common, here; a love of words and language, obviously. I think my personal favorite is the double-entendre, but I love unexpected gems such as wayzgoose, and Alexis' word calendrical, that she used today. I so rarely see that word, and never use it--but it just rang, silver and tinkling, for me.
But we share more than that. Obviously we're all able to use a computer and to write well enough in English to be understood (mostly!). I would almost bet money that every last one of us has a love of reading. And, you know what? I think that, quite possibly, one of the things that keeps so many of us here, that has bound us together in so many different ways, is this: I suspect that nearly all of us can only find this type of word/language interaction here. That is, I imagine that very few of us are close in real life to anyone on a frequent basis, with whom we can share enthusiasm over a new word or usage, even those of us who do not live alone. I know my husband, though he enjoys a good wordplay, comes by here and does the same thing he does when I'm doing word puzzles--shakes his head, clearly indicating that he has NO comprehension of why I am fascinated, and eases away. If there's something funny I can read to him without a whole lot of background explanation, he'll appreciate that, but he has no interest in staying. So...here I am! You all nourish me, and I gulp greedily.
Another thing I have noticed is that so many of us are creative, in some aspect of the arts or another: music, drama, writing, art (hi, you!). And, oh yes--high intelligence.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Oh, I do agree with you, Jackie. The other night I was reading something on the board that was cracking me up--there were two threads, one about the hamate and the other I can't remember, but it had something to do with Bill's explanation of breathing. There I was in my little world, laughing at the computer screen, and my daughter asked, "What's so funny?"
So, I read her one of the threads and she looked at me with glazed eyes. She also had a good friend here, and the friend had glazed eyes, too.
So, undaunted, I read them the other thread. They shook their heads at each other and returned to watching Nottingham Hill.
Sigh,
Wordwind
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 200
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 200 |
[kingston trio music] "When will they ever learn? [/music] (Leaving ambiguous whether this is addressed to Dub-Dub, or about Dub-Dub.  )
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
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> the spinning black grooves
yes, such deeply evocative experiences ingrain themselves in our minds and memories and language!
does anyone know if the expression, originally from the jazz age IIRC, about grooving or groovy comes from the introduction of the early phonographs (hah!) or did it come from, er, something earlier? [unshocked]
(and thanks all for the evocative responses about books, old and new - yes, I think we can all relate to that one!)
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