The joy of used books …

… The Bookshelf: The Joys of Used Bookstores - Public Discourse. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A used bookstore! Browsing the shelves leisurely, one discovers books one never knew one must have. Even the smell is enticing, of old paper and leather and cloth.

The author seems to have the opposite experience to what I had when I read Brideshead Revisited. It was on the list of books those of us taking the course in the modern novel that fall had to read beforehand. It was the first on the list that I chose to read because I had just read Decline and Fall, one of the funniest books I had ever read. I remember pausing after reading Brideshead for about 45 minutes and saying aloud to myself: “This is the saddest book I have ever read.”

I finished and loved and still love. That said, the Sword of Honour trilogy is certainly a masterpiece.