Book Memories

When I rambled about Libraries a couple of weeks ago, one of Jay's comments made me think about books in a new way.

"There is something to be said about reading a book people have enjoyed before you."

I had never actually thought about it that way before: reading a book other people have enjoyed. Not just the same story, but the very same ink and paper and binding.

They might love it just as much as I do. The book saw their laughs and tears and smiles and they were just as important as mine. Their widened eyes, their horrified gasps, their frantic fingers are all preserved in the book, right along with mine.

The book knows and remembers them just as it will know and remember me. The story has a story, not just in the words on its pages, but in the essence of the pages themselves.

Maybe I'm going too far with this.

But isn't it a beautiful thought?

~Stephanie