If You Truly Love A Book, You

I Am Very Grateful To The Electronic World For Making My Life Easier, But There Is Something About Holding A Book - The Smell And The World Of Association. Even When E-books Are Perfected, As They Surely Will Be, It Will Be Like Being In Bed With A Very Well-made Robot Rather Than A Warm, Soft, Human Being Whom You Love.

When I Walk Into An Apartment With Books On The Shelves, Books On The Bedside Tables, Books On The Floor, And Books On The Toilet Tank, Then I Know What I Would See If I Opened The Door That Says Private - Grownups Keep Out: A Children Sprawled On The Bed, Reading.

You Can Miss A Lot By Sticking To The Point.

When The Irish Novelist John Mcgahern Was A Child, His Sisters Unlaced And Removed One Of His Shoes While He Was Reading. He Did Not Stir. They Placed A Straw Hat On His Head. No Response. Only When They Took Away The Wooden Chair On Which He Was Sitting Did He, As He Puts It, 'wake Out Of The Book'.

It Is A Truism Of Epistolary Psychology That, For Example, A Christmas Thank-you Note Written On December 26 Can Say Any Old Thing, But If You Wait Until February, You Are Convinced That Nothing Less Than Middlemarch Will Do.