“When I was little, my ambition was to grow up to be a book. Not a writer. People can be killed like ants. Writers are not hard to kill either. But not books: however systematically you try to destroy them, there is always a chance that a copy will survive and continue to enjoy a shelf-life in some corner on an out-of-the-way library somehwere in Reykjavik, Valladolid or Vancouver.”
Amos Oz
I love the magical thinking of childhood and how one could wish to grow up to be an actual book!
The logic in the story belies his young age, however, and he seems to have thought it through quite well.
It is so true that humans and individuals are fallible and vulnerable; and also true that books often outlast us. Their stories are told time and time again; they get re-printed and stored, passed along and handed down. They go out into the world and are picked up at garage sales and second hand book stores. And the cycle begins again.
He has somehow imbued books with a sense of eternality, and I complete agree with him that you can sometimes come across a book in the strangest and most unexpected places. And doesn't that make you wonder about the journeys they've made and the people's whose hands they have passed through to get there?
I love those discoveries - a true gem, or an old favourite found when and where you would never dream to find them.
This piece makes me think of the tenaciousness of books and their ability to survive.
Amos Oz
I love the magical thinking of childhood and how one could wish to grow up to be an actual book!
The logic in the story belies his young age, however, and he seems to have thought it through quite well.
It is so true that humans and individuals are fallible and vulnerable; and also true that books often outlast us. Their stories are told time and time again; they get re-printed and stored, passed along and handed down. They go out into the world and are picked up at garage sales and second hand book stores. And the cycle begins again.
He has somehow imbued books with a sense of eternality, and I complete agree with him that you can sometimes come across a book in the strangest and most unexpected places. And doesn't that make you wonder about the journeys they've made and the people's whose hands they have passed through to get there?
I love those discoveries - a true gem, or an old favourite found when and where you would never dream to find them.
Anselm Kiefer, Sternenfall/Shevirath Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart |
Yes.
ReplyDeleteYes x 2
Deleteabsolutely...
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
DeleteSuch an interesting thing to want to be... but it makes sense. I've always loved the Kiefer books, all of them.
ReplyDeleteHe does do great books Valerianna... this 'library' was amazing...
DeleteI watched The Book Thief again the other day Fiona so the influence of books is fresh in my mind and nourished a bit more now with your thinking.
ReplyDeleteSigh from a distance L, what a book, and what a movie. The power of words and stories and books...
DeleteAs Kiefer came out of the World War II arena where he rejected the idea that Hitler could burn all the books make his art so much more connected to humanity.. . hooray for the eternity and indestructibility of books.
ReplyDeleteI second your hooray Donna - books are constants and can survive even the most wicked o intentions. Go well.
Deleteour few books were like magical beings in my childhood home. and now i make them. amazing!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lifetime journey V - from precious few to precious more...
DeleteI just love the sentiment of this quote...and I must admit, it is a personification that has never occurred to me - though it makes perfect sense. And maybe it's some comfort, too, to people who write/create books, to think of living on much longer than we can otherwise. It is a beautiful thing to stumble across a book from generations ago that can open up the world for us today... Thank you for the wonderful words and poetic image!
ReplyDelete