Metaphorically speaking
They say never judge a book by its cover.
Then how is one supposed to pick up a book in a bookstore with a million books there.
To begin with how does one even start.
I don't like to go on recommendations. Don't want to miss out on the thrill of finding something just by chance.
And then how long before one has to make the decision.
You can't possibly read the whole book at the bookstore. Its romantacised but believe me its uncomfortable. I like to lie down while reading my book. And you get stared at by the person waiting (almost in line) for you to vacate the chair.
So at most you flip through a couple of pages and make your decision. You strike a trade off, between being stuck with something tonight that you can't go beyond 20 minutes with and missing out on a book which really reads like the story of your life. You take your chance with one of the five contenders. The other four you miss out on. There are only so many reading hours.
Now if they had said "Never judge a book" at all , it would been a whole different thing.
Experience it, live it , think it, love it, hate it. Just don't judge it.
On a similar note , my mobile phone has just had a cover change. Have fallen in love with it all over again. From wanting to replace it this minute to recognising an unsaid connect between us.
posted by lemontree @ 10:32 AM
3 Comments:
metaphorically speaking...of course we judge books by their covers. and in order not to appear too shallow we read the back cover to get an insight into the book to see if we click.
the rest is a gamble. sometimes the more you read the book, the more you love it. or sometimes midway u realise this was a big mistake and struggle between giving it one more chance or chucking it away.
again methaphorically speaking, this couple that had been "happily" married for 30 odd years once told me that you can read your favourite book only so many times. there'll come a time when you know every line, and every meaning that hides between the lines & then you feel the need to pick up another book!
scary thought eh?
i defenitely share your dilemma!
though on a different note i have found a couple of ways around it. i dont like beststellers and mainstream at all. i try to select on the 'like' basis also. if i liked a book, i try finding a similar in topic, writting or else.. which does not always work i admit. i got two bookselling friends so i found out in hard work, when to trust them and when not. i m just reading 'discovery of slowness' (nodolny), recommended also, and i later found my friend never read it herself. as said above - i struggled at first, but then grew to like it later.
maybe just give yourself the rite to buy the wrong book...
a friend of mine read a book while sailing in summer, she disliked a lot, got angry and tossed the book simply over board.
i could never have done that.
anyways good luck with your next book choice, and let us know how it turned out!
lemontree said:
girl in pink: scary thought.
and then at times you are in the middle of a no. of books, none of them capturing your attention long enough. even scarier from my perspective. hehe
jemgal: thanks for visiting! love the "maybe just give yourself the rite to buy the wrong book..."
in my case works beautifully with the metaphor :)
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