I love the smell of books. It’s an olfactory overload that facilitates feelings of transcendence. Books are more than a compilation of words, sentences, paragraphs. They are a vehicle to another world
Discussion
I can't read a kindle. It doesn't hit the same. I also like the smell of books 📚
I just sniffed the spine of Kafka’s “The Trial” and got high as a kite!
In college, my job was Vet Medicine librarian. When I moved to Fairhope 35 years ago, I worked at tge library. Throughout my life, libraries have been my haven, my strength, my future and my past. The smell of the stacks and the card catalog is as transcendent as you find it. The archives in the downtown Birmingham library feels like home.
Books can feel like home, whatever that may be. Home can be defined as a state of mind rather than an arbitrary geographic location. Books were created to make one feel less alone in the world.
I converse with Wallace, Vonnegut, Bukowski, Thompson all the time!
Did you read Carl Hiaasen ever? Maybe not aa lofty as your stated authors but certainly witty and worth a read.
Emerson is my closest friend and Muir too.
🫂
Do you have any recommendations for me?
If you enjoy laughing and irreverence, Sick Puppy maybe. One of my flaws is that I read (or once read) voraciously, and then I forget the story and characters and all books are new to me when I pick them up again. I am dyslexic and ok with it, but it’s hard to write a book report!
Umberto Eco by like there's one downside though 🫣
