« Home | Booker has a blog » | Reprint of a Der Spiegel interview with Salman Rus... » | Classics piecemealed » | The Booker Shortlist buzz » | I missed the Harry Potter stuff given my Booker di... » | Booker 2006 Shortlist » | The Perfect Man - Naeem Murr » | Silence » | The Testament of Gideon Mack - James Robertson » | Get a Life - Nadine Gordimer »

Other People's Books - a cosy read (via)

What interests me about other people's books is the nature of their collection. A personal library is an X-ray of the owner's soul. It offers keys to a particular temperament, an intellectual disposition, a way of being in the world. Even how the books are arranged on the shelves deserves notice, even reflection. There is probably no such thing as complete chaos in such arrangements.

Other people's books draw my attention, of course. They excite curiosity about their owners and the worlds they inhabit. But it's finally my own books that matter, as they tell me about where I've been, and where I hope to go.

"A personal library is an X-ray of the owner's soul. "

I have a small but eclectic X-ray of my soul then. About a 100 books, sci-fi to philosophy, rough science guides to fantasy. Wonder what people will think of "my way of being in the world".

Note to self: Must take a picture of the bookshelf and post it online and see if I have any soul brothers (sisters)

Post a Comment

About me

  • I'm Echo/Lavanya
  • From Chennai, India
  • So, we are curious now? My folks named me Lavanya, and it does have a meaning. I named myself Echo, for this blog. And that has a meaning too. Therefore, I have more than one name; I can walk; I can talk; I can read; I can even write; I can count - 9 'I's already and that is absolutely disgusting; I can also lie about numbers. Do you need to hear more?
My profile