So, I had myself a charming lunchtime rendezvous today with a classy little thing all the way from Bavaria. Oozing charm and sophistication (even at two hundred-years old), my date was attired in a devilishly chic little black number, blurring the lines between elegance and cheapness …well, I did pick her up for a pound in the stairwell of a department store!!! *
*this whole analogy would have worked a lot better if E.T.A Hoffman had been a woman, but MEH!
Sadly an hour was not enough for this torrid little affair to run its course, but isn’t that what the whole experience of reading is analogous to – a love affair? **I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not that was a rhetorical question, judged solely on the comments (or lack of) beneath **
There’s the initial rush of excitement you get on first sight, when you think…this could be the one–the one to help you move on from those past disappointments, taken in by the lure of a flashy cover and the kiss-me-quick blurb that promised you a five-star night in Vegas but delivered a B&B in Margate.
When you look inside at that opening paragraph it’s like you’re a nervous kid on a first date. You begin tentatively, re-reading those initial sentences because you’re lost to the excitement and promise of where this may lead **and it is leading somewhere, so much so you went for the tried and trusted yawn-cum-grope cinema move and left with your balls still intact**
You go to bed satisfied (keep it clean people!), re-living the glorious encounter of those first chapters until the Sandman sprinkles dust in your eyes (instead of stealing them, as per the book).
And when you wake up and the first thing you do is reach for that book you know it’s the real thing…and that although there will come other books, nothing will ever quite live up to this one.
And if not…well, there’s plenty more books in the bookshop!!!
*I’d love to hear you comments*
*Especially if you’ve ever married a book*
(well, stranger things have happened: Tracey Emin just married a rock)
Blurred Worlds 
I have always equated books with trees for their sturdy spines, their rustling leaves of pages, their seasonal transience, but I did once fall ass over tea kettle for a notebook. So intimate the hours you spend together, warming gradually and tenderly the white flesh of paper with the continuous brushing of your wrist… The way you finger the pages with sweet nostalgia for those heated moments known only to the both of you… How even years after this relationship has sailed onward and no more room in either of you remains for that late night grasping and groping for truth, you cannot bring yourself to walk away. Always carried from one home or place to the next, hidden away like a photo of someone you loved too deeply and secretly to evict from your heart…
Ok I rambled a bit, no apologies. I’m looking forward to my next good book, I envy you. Not a lot of time to read lately
Fantastic Kelley – easily the best comment I’ve had on this blog, so no apology needed 😀
I’ve been struggling to find time to write/blog/ read myself, but these connections we make in the blogosphere make always keep me coming back.
In reply to the second comment you left, I’m so glad you found your muse again. I hope you’re going to post on your site.
See you soon, so to speak 😀
I have to also add a thank you, you inspired my muse to write a poem about that very notebook.
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You’ve captured the essence of a good book in entirety. The sight, the smell and the feel of pristine pages in your hands for the first time – indeed, it is a rather exquisite affair! Nothing like the warmth of a good book, one that keeps you lusting for more. And you know you’re bound to cheat someday, but ever so often you come across a rare gem that keeps you coming back for more. One of my favorites is Kafka On The Shore. Have you found yourself a keeper yet?
You’re so right, it can be like an exquisite affair –a departure we need sometimes that always remains faithful. I have a few keepers I return to, Philip K Dick being the main one. Although forced to write genre fiction to get into print, his characters and their vulnerabilities always shone through.
Happy reading (and writing) 😀
Thank you Darren. I’ll make sure I pick up one of his books. Hope you’re well. 🙂
Very well thank you, Tanya…enjoying some rare sunshine in England. Hope you’re well too 😀