Between the Lines
A place to put what we're thinking, whenever the mood strikes or when timely and necessary ...
Posted on 1/5/12 by Daiva Chesonis
A 23-year old gal just walked up to the counter to purchase a book from our writing section: "Naked, Drunk, and Writing: Shed Your Inhibitions and Craft a Compelling Memoir or Personal Essay" by Adair Lara. She couldn't help but spill her guts about why such a book is perfect for her in this very moment and I lapped up every sentence with my once-hot coffee. Having just moved here after a failed marriage, a recently deceased boyfriend and living with drag queens on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, she just couldn't not have this book to help her put everything down and settle the spastic stomach that has been her life this past year. Alas, none of her plastic would ring true (that's what bouncing around between Hawaii and the East Coast will do), so I put it on "super hold" meaning it doesn't get reshelved until she has the proper amount of pennies piled up from her waitressing job at a restaurant that has yet to reopen. I almost felt like just giving her the darn book but that's not a very good business model. Her circumstances would classify her as kinda down and out but that's not what resides in those dark, sparkly Mexican-blooded eyes of hers. That twinkle forebodes greatness and I want to be a small part of her journey. I gave her but one piece of advice: Go with the flow. Who knew that my journey would lead me from building the Gondola to bookstore ownership. You go girl, in the truest sense ...
Posted on 12/04/11 by Miriam Schaffer
Please, judge a book by its cover!
A plea for books and their wonderful covers.
I am staring at a copy of Peter Matthiessen’s "The Snow Leopard," which is currently lying beside the couch after a recent dusting frenzy accidentally pushed the book from its purchase on my shelf. The sight of it makes me smile. I first read this Himalayan adventure story of Matthiessen’s quest to find the mystical snow leopard when I was 18 years old and traveling in India. It was so inspiring I brought it along many of my travels over the years. It has been by my side in at last three Asian countries and all over the US. It is therefore tattered, heavily scrawled in, and smelling of bonfire. How adventurous the book is!
I want to introduce a series of defenses in honor of the paper book, each part expounding a different theme of importance. While many around me laud the e-readers for reasons some of which I understand, my objective will not be a call for their complete eradication, but rather to provide good reason (I hope) for why we should also buy books from our local bookshops. Further, if nothing else, I intend to provoke conversation and debate regarding the direction and concentration on values when we whip out those plastic cards and exercise our consumer muscles.
In honor of the tactile experience ...
We all know the expression, to look beyond façades, to quite literally “read deeper.” While I do not think anyone would disagree with the importance of close examination and perception beyond mere physical representation (I do not think anyone would deny “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” its greatness if it was produced with an ugly cover). I would nonetheless like to argue that judging a book by its cover is a wonderful thing. And yes, I am talking only about books (for the sake of this article). Allow me to explain.
In David Abrams’ book "The Spell of the Sensuous," hthe author makes a case for the importance of living in a sensual (employing our senses) world. It is through engagement with our senses that we become closer to understanding and appreciating interconnectivity. In describing the experience of perceiving a soaring raven he accounts for feelings that are “visceral,” “visual," and “audible." I would like to suggest, additionally, that engaging multi-sensory experiences brings us closer to our natural selves by allowing us to live richer, more meaningful lives. It is in our accounts of experiences where the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and feelings are all participating that tend to be the most memorable. Without evoking these senses, however, we risk dulling them and thus shifting away from sensory abilities. If you believe this to be so, then the existence of the paper book should be sacred. For it is not just in the sight of the words that allow us to transport visually, but also in our tactile experience of holding a book—feeling its cover, its textures, its smell—that evoke feelings and engage us with a tactile world that is lush and deep.
Secondly, are books not works of art? People build shelves to exhibit their books, to show off the beauty of their collections. With the advent of the e-reader I suspect a decline in the perusal of shelves. With this decline we will lose the “eye-catcher”—that sensually attractive bookcover that cries, “read me,” and importantly, could have been a worthwhile book that has become overlooked.
Judging a book by its cover is therefore both an engaging tactile experience and a participation with recognizing art. What these two experiences have in common is that they are active experiences. They pull us off the couch and bring us into a perceptually vibrant world. They force us to pay attention and appreciate what our bodies are capable of appreciating. I believe this should count for something.
