2004-07-07 - 20:12

I want to warp space/time.

Now, I could be wrong about this, because I've never read anything by Terry Prachett, but from what I understand Mr. Pratchett has a theory. His theory is that books warp space/time. You can tell this by looking at or being around people who have worked too long in bookstores (or, at the very least second hand bookstores.) They seem, as they walk around the corner, as if they've just folded out of another dimension and magically there they are. And, I agree.

Except, not all books warp space/time in the same way...which is why new bookstores and old bookstores seem different. New bookstores are louder. They are vibrant, like neon lights. They are noisy like a bar or a room full of sixteen year olds who just got their driver's licenses. Used bookstores are quiet. They're like monks in contemplation. They're windows and doors into minds and thoughts and the past and the future. They are tungsten lights. They are old photographs.

Ansel Adams once said that there are two people in every photograph, the photographer and the viewer. There are two people in every book as well. The author and the reader. In used books their are more than two people. There is the author and you and every person who's read the book before you. The people who have creased the pages and the spine and left little notes in the margins. I love used books.

So, I was thinking about this today and wondering where different books fit on the space/time warping scale. John Grisham, I thought, would rate pretty low because he's formula written. But, then Elizabeth pointed out that he's read by many people. And how about books who have been influential but which haven't been read by many people. Where do they fit? Is philosphy higher than entertainment? And then I thought, I want to be like a book, I want to be able to warp space/time. Can people do that?

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Artificial Sound for the Artificial World:

Still more noir than you are.