“Although we read with our minds, the seat of artistic
delight is between the shoulder blades. That little shiver behind is quite
certainly the highest form of emotion that humanity has attained when evolving
pure art and pure science. Let us worship the spine and its tingle.”
― Vladimir Nabokov
This is the quote from which I’ve taken the title of this
blog because I think it perfectly conveys the way I experience the books that
I love to read. I feel the telltale tingle when I read Nabokov’s Transparent
Things or Bend Sinister or when I read Bruno Schulz's The Street of Crocodiles
(a current read that gives more chills than tingles). I also like the double
meaning that the last line of this quote suggests; it implies both the telltale
tingle of one’s spine when encountering great books and art and the spine of a book
itself--the eye candy that catches one’s attention on those musty bookshelves
in libraries and bookstores, inviting us in to explore vast worlds, previously unknown.
I spend most of my time reading and
rereading books, adding books to my to-read list, searching for more books to read, and organizing, researching, cataloging, etc. These are my main
hobbies. Sometimes I get the urge to actually sit down and discuss what I’m
reading or write a review of the book I’ve just read but I’m not always
consistent about it. For this reason, this is going to be an occasional blog—or
maybe a more-than-occasional blog, depending on the time available to me and
the necessary words. Sometimes I’ll post book reviews. Sometimes I’ll post
quotes. Or art and illustrations. Or random library and information science
news. Or information about whatever topic I’m currently researching. Please feel free to chime in with your own thoughts and recommendations.
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