"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens."
Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of The Wind)
I know talk of the soul can be difficult at times; but there is sense in here that there is a spirit or an essence or an energy attached to books and that that energy travels with them when they change hands and move between readers.
I felt this recently when I was asked to select a number of books for a display of First Edition books by Australian Women Writers.
We are once again showing part of this collection at our Maleny Celebration of Books.
As the collector laid them out on the table and I picked them up, held them, smelled, turned them over, looked inside; it really did feel as if I was having some sort of conversation over the years.
It somehow felt like the books held lives and stories well beyond the tale written inside their covers. That the books had borne witness to many things and many people, and retained an echo or memory of those times and places.
It wasn't scary or odd; but the sense of it all was very real.
Perhaps there is something to these fictional words...
This is the first in the Billabong series by Mary Grant Bruce. My grandmother read the series, my mother read them and I read them all as well. They were great childhood companions; and Norah was the best of characters - loyal, brave, energetic, interested, hard-working, helpful - a multitude of traits that made me love her. And here's a First Edition. Sigh.
The Celebration of Books Maleny is celebrating its 5th birthday this year and heralding women writers and readers.
You can find all the details around the workshops, artist book projections onto trees, the display of First Editions, the Big Book Club, the fabulous forum of female panellists, the book-based movies and children's activities all over at the website. Would be great toes some of you here!
Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of The Wind)
I know talk of the soul can be difficult at times; but there is sense in here that there is a spirit or an essence or an energy attached to books and that that energy travels with them when they change hands and move between readers.
I felt this recently when I was asked to select a number of books for a display of First Edition books by Australian Women Writers.
We are once again showing part of this collection at our Maleny Celebration of Books.
As the collector laid them out on the table and I picked them up, held them, smelled, turned them over, looked inside; it really did feel as if I was having some sort of conversation over the years.
It somehow felt like the books held lives and stories well beyond the tale written inside their covers. That the books had borne witness to many things and many people, and retained an echo or memory of those times and places.
It wasn't scary or odd; but the sense of it all was very real.
Perhaps there is something to these fictional words...
This is the first in the Billabong series by Mary Grant Bruce. My grandmother read the series, my mother read them and I read them all as well. They were great childhood companions; and Norah was the best of characters - loyal, brave, energetic, interested, hard-working, helpful - a multitude of traits that made me love her. And here's a First Edition. Sigh.
The Celebration of Books Maleny is celebrating its 5th birthday this year and heralding women writers and readers.
You can find all the details around the workshops, artist book projections onto trees, the display of First Editions, the Big Book Club, the fabulous forum of female panellists, the book-based movies and children's activities all over at the website. Would be great toes some of you here!
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