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Thursday, February 2. 2017

Depressed

A big reader friend told me at lunch yesterday that she had had the depressing realization last weekend that she will never be able to read all the books she wants to read in her lifetime.


She is a very active, adventurous person whose appetite for new experiences equals her appetite for new knowledge. Rather than depressing, I found her comment uplifting. We'd like to die, maybe, dropping a half-read book onto our chest. Is there a library in heaven?

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 16:45 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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QUOTE:
dropping a half-read book onto our chest ...


... Red or Black? Bomb Disposal for Dummies

... How To Fly A Plane
#1 Thought Kriminal No. 392342-A on 2017-02-02 17:39 (Reply)
Boy, am I in for a rude "awakening"! I've always thought that I will never die because there are just way too many books on my "must read" list.
#2 charles on 2017-02-02 19:57 (Reply)
I remember having a very similar realization about 20 years ago when walking into the Borders book store in Tysons Corner (just outside of DC). In my case, I remember looking around the store and realizing there were whole major topics of study that I was just never going to get to in my lifetime. It was a bit melancholy.
#3 bfwebster (Link) on 2017-02-02 20:09 (Reply)
'I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.' ~ Jorge Luis Borges
#4 Carl on 2017-02-02 20:29 (Reply)
I don't know about going to libraries in heaven but I have occasionally felt like I have been to heaven in a library.
#5 kaflick on 2017-02-02 21:35 (Reply)
Yes...!! Dr George Ritchie's book.. Return from Tomorrow. A very good read.

God Bless,
Capt. John
#6 Capt. John A. Snyder on 2017-02-03 06:00 (Reply)
Your friend is looking farther ahead than I am. I made a list of 12 books I want to read this year and am wondering if it's going to be possible. Les Miserables is taking a little longer than I planned.
#7 Jack Walter on 2017-02-03 09:50 (Reply)
"I cannot think of a better blessing than to die in one's own bed, without warning or discomfort, on the last page of the new book we most wanted to read." - John Russell
#8 Sally Oljar on 2017-02-03 12:27 (Reply)
My husband and I were just talking yesterday about how we used to be voracious readers in our younger day. Not so much anymore.

Why?

Reading is a solitary pursuit, and we like to talk to each other! When the work day is over, do we want to retreat from each other into books? No.

We enjoy watching tv, movies (including documentaries) and being able to talk about them while they are going on. Pausing to make a point.

Can't do that with books.

I used to want to read a huge list of classical literature in my 20s. Now, I typically only read when I am on an airplane, I'm in a hotel room alone, or when my husband goes to bed early. I make it through maybe 2 or 3 books a YEAR.

LOL.

Let the freak out begin.
#9 MissT on 2017-02-03 13:16 (Reply)

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