'... the library was a place of silent discord and anarchy, it's superficial tranquility concealing a bable of assertion and dispute. Fiction is one student lie - or rather, many competing lies; history is a long narrative of argument and reassessment; travel shouts of self-promotion; biography is pushing a product. As for autobiography... And all this is just fine. That is the function of books: they offer a point of view, they offer many conflicting points of view, they provoke thought, they provoke irritation and admiration and speculation. They take you out of yourself and put you down somewhere else from whence you never entirely return.' Penelope Lively Consequences
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librarySince reading a biography of Marie Antoinette I've been thinking about fiction, non-fiction, biography. I most definately prefer fiction but I'm coming round to biography. It may take a while to reach non-fiction. How about you?
The second part of this quote also strikes a chord. How true. A good book is one which puts you down somewhere and from whence you never entirely return....
Where are you returning from?
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Ahh, you can't go wrong with a quote about libraries! I made the same journey as you from fiction into biography, I think via autobiography, and now I do read some non fiction.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, that first image is absolutely breathtaking!! That is what I want someday walls entirely lined with books from floor to ceiling! I'm usually a fiction girl, but I do love biographies. I find people so fascinating and I love to read a life story. It makes me feel like there is so much more that I am going to do, and the little twists and unexpected turns give me hope that it will all turn out all right in the end. Especially on days when I absolutely can't see what my next step will be.
ReplyDeleteI love that first picture. I want a library like that one! I don't read a lot of biographies but I've read some very good ones. The last one was Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali...an autobiography about a very brave woman.
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