Monday, January 20, 2014

O lord, sir! thick, thick, spare not me.

As I read my 71st book, The Adventures of Augie March, I have come to a conclusion about the book, despite not having even read a quarter of it. Let me be straight, I'm not talking about the quality of the writing or story, I'm talking about the actual physical printed book. I hate it.

The copy of Augie March that the Calgary Public Library has, is actually an omnibus called Saul Bellow: Novels 1944-1953.  Since my book is the third one, it began on page 383, which for reasons unknown I find very off putting. Then, the pages are very thin, so thin they remind me of a bible, where the pages feel more like tissue paper than regular stock. This presents two problems, first the pages are often difficult to turn because they stick together, second, I can see through them. And I'm not talking when I turn the page, or hold the book up to the light, I mean as I sit and read, I can see that there are printed words on the other side of the page. I find this very distracting.

But since the library doesn't have another copy, which I find a bit odd, I might be forced to make an emergency trip to a used bookstore this week. That's right, I might actually buy a book that is available at the library. But I don't know how much longer I can stand reading this book, and I fear these problems might impede my progress even more than my current reading habits already do.

End Rant.



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