“Welcome to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, Daniel.”
“When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here. In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader’s hands. In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner.”
from The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I found one of those cemeteries today, at 31 Market Street in the county of Fife in St. Andrews, Scotlan
d. From all the colorful and previously loved books in the Bouquiniste, I chose Stories from Shakespeare, told to the children by Jeanie Lang.
In the opening pages, Ms. Lang wrote: “Some day, when you are older, you will read the real Shakespeare for yourselves. You will know then why people call him the greatest writer that ever lived. And then you will say: ‘The little book that I read long ago was only like a faint little pencil outline, and this is the greatest picture in all the world.'”
Stories from Shakespeare
was published by Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, of London and Edinburgh, with pictures by N. M. Price and Others. There’s no publication date, but it was given to Janis Murray for regular attendance at the Abbeyhill Methodist Sunday School for the 1947-48 Session.
Tonight, March 12, 2009, this little book reaches new hands.
I love used book stores!
I think I read something like that (stories of Shakespeare) when I was in middle school. I do remember the stories with fondness and now I want to read the real thing!
Used book stores are a whole different world, aren’t they? Because not only do you have the story in the book, but each book has a story. Nice to hear from you, Rebecca!
I was in Hay-on-Wye, Wales and found such a cemetary there.
The little town is known for being ‘the town of books’ and I certainly felt as if I had gone straight to heaven. About 20 or more bookshops for used books – some so very cheap that it was hard not to buy about 100 or more.
And I have read ‘The Shadow of the Wind’ myself and was so truly amazed by it that I’ve read it about 3 times now and can’t wait for the follow-up.
Great blog, only stumbled over it today and it will now be included in my Google Reader!
Wow, a town of books. That sounds like that would be a perfect place for Zafon to place his next book. Actually he has a new one coming out June 16th–The Angels Game. I think I read that it’s a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind.
I’m putting Hay-on-Wye on my list for my next trip to the UK. Thanks, Susi. Hope to see you back again.