Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Quote: A book is somebody’s friend
In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner. Every book you see here has been somebody’s best friend.
– Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of the Wind)
Whenever I’m stuck on something to write I look to my quotations for inspiration. I absolutely loved The Shadow of the Wind that I read earlier this year. (There’s a reason it’s the top of my book recommendations.) It’s a book lover’s book with the mysteries inside each book. It almost seems like a crazy idea for a book to be somebody’s best friend, but ponder it for a moment. Walk into any used bookstore, library, or even a garage sale and you’ll find books that they have been loved at sometime in their life. I’m not including books from brand new stores, since they haven’t had time to live. I get excited about those books with the wrinkled edges and slightly worn pages. Where has this book been? Who has been its friend? Perhaps the book’s friend curled up reading in bed, another friend may have had a tissue box nearby, another friend wore out the book stroking its spine, another friend constantly carried it to read at a moment’s notice, or another friend read aloud for all to hear its message. The book changed hands and had a different significance and meaning to others. This is true for all books, since we have various preferences and each book means something new. A well-loved book gains endless friends whenever it is passed onto others. I know when I finish a good book it feels as though I’ve lost a friend, however perhaps I’ll now examine that for a small moment my life was part of the book’s life. What books have been your good friend?