Reading in Reykjavík

Forgotten books, stacked into a sculpture at the Reykjavík city library. "Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered." W.H. Auden (1907 – 1973)

The following quotation is probably the source for a particular incident in one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. I love it when I discover the source of some particular nugget of intertextuality. "A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us." W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

Books that have become classics - books that have had their day and now get more praise than perusal - always remind me of retired colonels and majors and captains who, having reached the age limit, find themselves retired on half pay. Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836-1907)

Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore? " Henry Ward Beecher (1813 – 1887)

"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them ." Ray Bradbury (1920 - )

... the following quotation seems like wonderful praise of reading and books: "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library."  Taken in context, it of course means quite the opposite:  Darcy took up a book; Miss Bingley did the same; and Mrs. Hurst, principally occupied in playing with her bracelets and rings, joined now and then in her brother's conversation with Miss Bennet. Miss Bingley's attention was quite as much engaged in watching Mr. Darcy's progress through his book, as in reading her own; and she was perpetually either making some inquiry, or looking at his page. She could not win him, however, to any conversation; he merely answered her question, and read on. At length, quite exhausted by the attempt to be amused with her own book, which she had only chosen because it was the second volume of his, ...

The best part of the fiction in many novels is the notice that the characters are purely imaginary. Franklin Pierce Adams (1881-1960)

ON THE RETURN OF A BOOK LENT TO A FRIEND I GIVE humble and hearty thanks for the safe return of this book which having endured the perils of my friend's bookcase, and the bookcases of my friend's friends, now returns to me in reasonably good condition. I GIVE humble and hearty thanks that my friend did not see fit to give this book to his infant as a plaything, nor use it as an ash-tray for his burning cigar, nor as a teething-ring for his mastiff. WHEN I lent this book I deemed it as lost: I was resigned to the bitterness of the long parting: I never thought to look upon its pages again. BUT NOW that my book is come back to me, I rejoice and am exceeding glad! Bring hither the fatted morocco and let us rebind the volume and set it on the shelf of honour: for this my book was lent, and is returned again. PRESENTLY, therefore, I may return some of the books that I myself have borrowed. (Christopher Morley, The Haunted Bookshop)

Even when reading is impossible, the presence of books acquired (by passionate devotion to them) produces such an ecstasy that the buying of more books than one can peradventure read is nothing less than the soul reaching towards infinity … we cherish books even if unread, their mere presence exudes comfort, their ready access, reassurance. – A. Edward Newton (1863-1940)

"The books we think we ought to read are poky, dull, and dry; The books that we would like to read we are ashamed to buy; The books that people talk about we never can recall; And the books that people give us, oh, they're the worst of all." Carolyn Wells (1862-1942)

   've traveled the world twice over, Met the famous; saints and sinners, Poets and artists, kings and queens, Old stars and hopeful beginners, I've been where no-one's been before, Learned secrets from writers and cooks All with one library ticket To the wonderful world of books. Author unknown

That is a good book which is opened with expectation, and closed with delight and profit. Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888)

...when the novel is first published, it may seem to be a true and faithful rendering of the life of the time it is looking back to, but almost every historical novel dates very quickly and soon comes to epitomize its own period more than the period in which it is set. On A Tale of Two Cities This makes me wonder what the bodice-rippers that were so popular back in the 1970's and 80's will tell the readers of the future about that era? Smiley continues a little later: For all the research that goes into it, and for all the weight it seems to have, the historical novel is one of the most ephemeral genres and reveals most clearly an author's intellectual and imaginative limitations. On A Tale of Two Cities This book is more of a portrait than a biography of Dickens and only traces his life in broad sketches, instead trying to show this complex man to the modern reader, trace how his work developed and perhaps increase our understanding of what made him such a great w...

The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them . Samuel Butler Very true. This would go well on a bookmark used only in the classics.

Beware of the person of one book. St. Thomas Aquinas A very succinct way of saying that reading broadens the mind and enlightens the soul. I think this would make a great bumper sticker for bookmobiles.

Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are books that other people have lent me. Anatole France

Steal not this book, my honest friend, For fear that the gallows be thine end. Bookplate

When I am dead, I hope it may be said, His sins were scarlet, but his books were read. Hillaire Belloc (1870-1953)

There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love. Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957)

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all. -Oscar Wilde, in the Preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray