The Valdese Blog has been sharing and posting up pictures of "Stuff around my house," and his latest pair of snapshots included a part of a bookshelf which I took immediate interest in.
For some reason, it brought back some fond memories of my parents... both who were accomplished scholars, who were very passionate about books, especially used books and used book stores.
Here's a snapshot of my only bookshelf here. It's also the first one that I have ever purchased in my life (so far), from the Ikea store, and let me tell you what a nightmare it was bringing this home from the store and then having to put it together. I needed a lot of help from my roommates.
The bookcase is really tall. There are six shelves in total. This snapshot is of top two shelves (rotated on its side). It's quite a mess I know but it's the least messiest of the all the shelves. The middle and bottom shelves are in a continual mess. I wished there was another shelf to put in, to split the middle one because I spaced it all wrong. There's just way too much space and room, and so the books tend to get stacked on their faces. And I have no desire or the ability to take it apart to respace the shelvings at all. No way! I also regret not getting two of these bookcases at the time. I really need a second bookshelf.
Some of the books on this bookshelf were given to me. Actually a lot of the books. Some I've "borrowed" from various people. The ones that I've purchased are mostly from the used book store. And I tend to buy up anthologies or collections because I like the broad variety, and because these type of books tend to be quite expensive when new.
Of the books in this picture the "Poet's Market 2007" and the "Poems of Akhmatova" are the only ones I purchased new at one of those giant mega-chain multi-level bookstores with the cafe in the middle. I did feel some guilt but I really had no choice at the time.
Okay, it's time for me to sleep. But before I go, I'd like to share one of the poems from the "Poems of Akhmatova":
"This Cruel Age Has Deflected Me..."
by Anna Akhmatova
This cruel age has deflected me,
like a river from its course.
Strayed from its familiar shores,
my changeling life has flowed
into a sister channel.
How many spectacles I've missed:
the curtain rising without me,
and falling too. How many friends
I never had the chance to meet.
Here in the only city I can claim,
where I could sleepwalk and not lose my way,
how many foreign skylines I can dream,
not to be witnessed through my tears.
And how many verses I have failed to write!
Their secret chorus stalks me
close behind. One day, perhaps,
they'll strangle me.
I know beginnings, I know endings too,
and life-in-death, and something else
I'd rather not recall just now.
And a certain woman
has usurped my place
and bears my rightful name,
leaving a nickname for my use,
with which I've done the best I could.
The grave I go to will not be my own.
But if I could step outside myself
and contemplate the person that I am,
I should know at last what envy is.
-- Leningrad, 1944
6 comments:
Ms. O.D., that is a LOT of books. I think the perfect living room for you is one with a built-in bookcase in one wall. It's just like one of those perfect rooms in designer mags. :o)
I like your books! I need to read more poetry, its been awhile.... I could not CONCIEVE of trying to put a bookshelf together from Ikea (or anywhere else). We lugged this one home & plopped it up against the wall. Thanks for sharing!
Elaine here: I enjoyed the poem - thanks for sharing. That's a *lot of books! :)
I like a book shelf in disarray, it has character and asymmetry. the poem is really lovely, I enjoyed it very much. thanks for sharing it! :)
@Babette ooh i know what you're talking about, i've seen some nice designs, one was a staircase with bookshelving on its side... wished i had a more permanent place to live
@Valdese Blogger i love poetry! but i think i've spent too much time in it because now i'm having trouble writing complete sentences and paragraphs... been trying to read more essays and non-fictions, maybe victorian literature next.
oh no i never knew bookshelves could be that expensive! this ikea one is not too bad, definitely happy about the price... but just too hard to put together ! :)
@Hi Elaine! I really like Anna Ahkmatova's poems, definitely recommend them...
@Chat Blanc bookshelf in disarray... reminded of a used book store in the city i used to go to, looked like a tornado had passthrough it, a tiny store, with creaky floors, trail of piled books, books stacked up to the ceiling, books stuffed and crammed into the shelves, couldnt find anything. but the owner, an elderly man... if you asked him he could find it for you... and he loved talking about the new arrivals. it was a cozy place.
Wow a stack of books. I don't have a single bookshelf though...
Post a Comment