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Dear Dunnett-fan of Cambridge
Jul. 28th, 2004 09:27 pmI feel a certain kinship with you, whenever you read this copy of _The Disorderly Knights_. It has one of those strange bindings I only see in libraries, barely larger than a paperback (the cover of an ancient paperback was laminated onto the plain yellow hard cover), with the pages attached to little tabs along the spine, to allow for tiny little inner margins. This looks like a book that was loved to death and resurrected. The edges of the pages are a little swollen, maybe from moisture, maybe from fingers rubbing them.
The book smells of tea. The smell is faint, but I can tell it was very good black tea. More expensive than the kind I drink, not scented with orange peel or anything flowery. I wonder if you were reading in bed, thinking you'd just read a little more, because you had to be up early in the morning...until it was early in the morning, and you were rubbing your eyes and drinking tea with unsteady hands. Did you spill the tea on the book? Rest the book in a puddle on the table? Or did you just put the book in your purse to finish at lunchtime, along with enough tea to make another gallon, just in case?
Thank you. There's something about libraries and community...I haven't figured it all out yet, but it says something good when books are checked out again before the good smells fade. And something else about Cambridge that I ended up recommending Dunnett to the woman who directed me to the library, who was walking to the library, herself. (Yes, I've been to the Cambridge library at least a dozen times. My need for directions that morning says as much about me as it does about Cambridge.)
The book smells of tea. The smell is faint, but I can tell it was very good black tea. More expensive than the kind I drink, not scented with orange peel or anything flowery. I wonder if you were reading in bed, thinking you'd just read a little more, because you had to be up early in the morning...until it was early in the morning, and you were rubbing your eyes and drinking tea with unsteady hands. Did you spill the tea on the book? Rest the book in a puddle on the table? Or did you just put the book in your purse to finish at lunchtime, along with enough tea to make another gallon, just in case?
Thank you. There's something about libraries and community...I haven't figured it all out yet, but it says something good when books are checked out again before the good smells fade. And something else about Cambridge that I ended up recommending Dunnett to the woman who directed me to the library, who was walking to the library, herself. (Yes, I've been to the Cambridge library at least a dozen times. My need for directions that morning says as much about me as it does about Cambridge.)
