Thursday Thoughts...

“The printed word is the playing field of the human imagination. And books are the instruments of play.” 

James Robertson

Some people have such an interesting way of thinking about things.

I really like the idea of our human imaginations having a playing field - a place where they roam and engage and explore and ask questions. To consider the printed word that playing field is interesting. Why not music, or visual art or dance or engineering or gardening...?

Perhaps the printed word is more widespread and a shared experience (mostly)? Perhaps because it is a key way in which learning and knowledge have been passed down ? Yet both those things are not necessarily the fruits of the imagination...

From a novelist's perspective oh yes indeed, the printed word is definitely the place where their imagination plays.

I also think about the use of 'instruments' of play. Playing instruments has a strong association with orchestral and other music I think, and yetI can't think of another word that might better describe what books are in this example - tools of play seems even odder!

So yes to the idea that the human imagination has a place to roam and play, and yes to the printed word and books being a key element of our imaginative play; but perhaps not the totality of it.

Robert Kusmirowski, Krakow, 2017.