"I wondered, for the first time in my life, if life was worth all the work it took to live. What exactly made it worth it? What's so horrible about being dead forever, and not feeling anything, and not even dreaming? What's so great about feeling and dreaming?"
- Jonathan Safran Foer (
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)
I'm Philippa, 24, and I'm from London.
One of my good friends from Uni managed to not only graduate, but graduated with an excellent grade despite having finished reading one book throughout the entire course, and he only finished reading said book because he was frightened of the professor. I don’t know how he did it (or why he chose an English degree when he has such a hatred for books), but I’ve been trying to get him to read for pleasure for years. Today, during one of my sessions which always begin “I really think you’d enjoy this book…” he expressed a desire to read One Day by David Nicholls. Naturally, I sent him off with my copy. If he finishes reading and enjoys this book, he doesn’t know what’s coming, because I’ll basically be buying him all of the books. Every single one.
I finally feel like I’ve achieved something!
Tags:
life
uni
books
reading
one day
david nicholls
“ When I read a book, I put in all the imagination I can, so that it is almost like writing the book as well as reading it - or rather, it is like living it. It makes reading so much more exciting, but I don’t suppose many people try to do it.
— Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
Tags:
dodie smith
i capture the castle
quote
lit
reading
16 notes
“ A book which is left on a shelf is a dead thing but it is also a chrysalis, an inanimate object packed with the potential to burst into new life.
— Susan Hill, Howards End is on the Landing
Tags:
susan hill
howards end is on the landing
quote
lit
books
reading
“ Too much internet useage fragments the brain and dissipates concentration so that after a while, one’s ability to spend long, focused hours immersed in a single subject becomes blunted. Information comes pre-digested in small pieces, one grazes on endless ready-meals and snacks of the mind, and the result is mental malnutrition.
— Susan Hill, Howards End is on the Landing
Tags:
lit
quote
reading
relevant
susan hill
howards end is on the landing
10 notes
“ I recently discovered that when my friend Mary has finished a book, she won’t start another for a couple of days - she wants to give her most recent reading experience a little more time to breathe, before its suffocated by the next. This makes sense, and it’s an entirely laudable policy, I think. Those of us who read neurotically, however - to ward off boredom, and the fear of our own ignorance, and our impending deaths - can’t afford the time.
— Nick Hornby, Shakespeare Wrote for Money
Tags:
book
nick hornby
quote
reading
shakespeare wrote for money
lit
26 notes
