book lover: leesgroep

Frankly, I'm not a huge fan of this whole phenomenon of book clubs, although the concept is appealing - deep and incisive conversations on the merits of a certain turn of a phrase or an unexpected plot twist. But nobody I know reads the same books I do. They read self-helps and thrillers and bios of movie stars. There's no end to the crap that's around. This same crap is made into movies and pretty soon they won't even read the crap anaymore. So joining one of my friends'book clubs is out.
I have this fanatsy book club in my mind where other people feel as passionately as I do about reading. As if it wre a really good kiss. The sheer pleasure and intimacy of having a relationship with a novelist and all the characters is transcendent - even sensual. Certain passages keep resonating in my head long after I've closed the book, and I often can't wait to get back to the story, as if it were a secret lover.
When I tell Virginia this, she thinks it's all too extreme. She reads, she tells me, to find out what happens. And she doesn't get half as caught up with the language and the stories behind the stories.
But for me, reading is so much more. Books teach you how other people think, and what they're feeling, and how they change from ordinary beings to extraordinary ones. Often they are so appealing and intelligent, you'd rather spend time reading about them than doing anything else.
And unlike life, if you don't like what you're reading, you can slam the book shut and then ...peace. That friendly cajoling voice is cut off until you decide to open the book again. Which is why I may not be the best candidate for book clubs. I like to read on my own terms, in my own time. And the same goes for in-depth discussions. I'm just too opinionated and outspoken. I'd alienate everyone in the room. No one would like me. They'd kick me out(70-71)

book lover citaten

Is dat iets waarin wij goed zouden moeten zijn. Ik ben er heel slecht in:
I think the only time I'm really happy is when I'm reading. 'Books make sense of life (Julian Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot) (111)
'I think reading a novel is almost next best to having something to do. (Margaret Oliphant, Scottish novelist (1827-1897)(80)
Classic. A book which people praise and don't read. Mark Twain (1835-1910)(65)
I divide all readers into two classes: Those who read to remember and those who read to forget. (William Lyon Phelps (1865-1943) (37)
I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train (Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) The Importance of Being Earnest)(30)
I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library (Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)(1)
All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality, the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape
(Arthur Christopher Benson (1862-1925)(6)
Lily prided herself on her broad-minded recognition of literature and always carried an Omar Khayyam in her travelling bag (Edith Wharton (1862-1937), The House of Mirth (128)
You should only read what is truly good or what is frankly bad. (Gertrude Stein (1874-1946)(223)
Een boekenliefhebber kan natuurlijk praten over boeken en het is wel leuk om te zien welke boeken ze leuk vindt.
Moby Dick en l'éducation sentimentale zal ik ook eens lezen als ik ooit eens vijf...

book lover: welke lezer

GL
eigenlijk is book lover een lekker wegkruipboek: een onhandige maar goedbedoelende heldin, een beetje bevooroordeeld en met een verlangen naar ouderwetse dingen zoal een moeder, een man en een kind. Ze verleis haar book lover, maar ze krijgt wel wat ze wil: een modern sprookje.Zij heeft wel een duidelijke mening over leesgroepen en deelt de lezers ook wel in: een beetje een snobje. Lees maar mee (zei ze tegen haar alter ego)
When Palmer and I first started dating we used to joke about the unspoken hierarchy of readers and the private way in which they tackle a book. At the top of the heap are the purists - people who read to soak up the elegantly constructed literary style and savor the brilliant metaphors, inventive characters, breathtaking imagery, and sparkling dialogue. The story is beside the point. I had a lit prof once who preached that one should always read the end of a novel first so the plot won't be distraction.
Not far behind are the academics - readers who never quite got over how they read a book in ther freshman English class, underlining or highlighting, turning down pages, looking up words they're not familiar with, and scribbling pithy comments in the margins.
The book worshipers come next. They keep their books covered (and not because they are romance novels), use bookmarks, and absolutely never let the book touch the floor. They look at the book as a sentient being, a living, breathing object of desire that needs to be treated with absolute respect. They read every word, even teh footnotes.
Then there are the readers who just want a good old-fashioned story and make no bones about it. They skip over long descriptive passages, skim through digressions, and zero in on who, what, and where to the nth degree.A subcategory of this is people who read books for sex, violence, or any other proclivity, and speedread passages that don't interest them.
Or how about the multitask readers, those who read while cooking, cleaning,talking on the phone, or driving. Which is stupid - not that I haven't done it.
The bottom-feeders come next and include the status readers, a group of wannabes who don't really want to read the book at all but want to be seen with it, like arm candy, the proverbial young blonde on the arm of a tycoon. They skim the book for plot and carry it around like a designer bag. Even worse are the people who listen to audio books, the new version of condensed books, or read novelizations of current movies. These people consider themselves readers, but they're not. What's most annoying is when they join in a conversation and act as though they've actually read it. I group the narcoleptic readers in this nonreader category. People who use books as Ambien and have had the same book sitting on their bedside table for the last six months. Also the bathroom readers - you know, the ones with the magazine racks near their toilets that hold old New Yorkers, Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and dog-eared collections of dirty jokes. (...)
Then there are the readers who like to hang out in bookstore cafés nursing tepid cappuccinos, hogging the table for hours while they leisurely read unpurchased books, leaving them in piles on the table for the salespeople to put away.
And let's not forget the hopeless unfinishers - people who like choosing books, buying books, starting books, but the one thing they can't seem to do is finish books.They continually deceive themselves, thinking this is the one book they are going to read all the way through, and I do think they are well-intentioned, but like diets and New Year's resolutions, the will to persevere usually fades. (...)
The most frustrating category of all includes people who read a book and just don't get it. I know, I'm a snob. I admit it. But once they tell you their analysis, there is really nothing you can do except change the subject.(72-74)