Monday, August 04, 2008

it's like i'm unpacking... myself.

so, in the new apartment, i decided to alphabetize my books. nerdy, right? but also USEFUL.

i discovered that i have two copies of the a lot of books. por ejemplo - great expectations, the horse and his boy, prince caspian, the secret garden, narrative of the life of frederick douglass, catch-22 [which, annoyingly, i just bought because i didn't think i had it], little men, the chosen, orlando, the fledgling, and, weirdly, selected shorter writings of mark twain. i mean, who has two copies of selected shorter writings of mark twain?

along with, of course, three copies each of a separate peace, the scarlet letter, and huck finn. because why not.

and i'm keeping some of them. i mean, they were gifts, or the original is falling apart, or one's  a critical edition, or they both have VERY USEFUL notes in them. very useful. 

here's the thing i've been realizing lately - being a pack rat gets really annoying when you can't find something. like, i have multiple copies of the aforementioned books, but i can't find my copy of plato's symposium from sophomore year of college. now, if i were breezy and low-key, i could be like, "eh! i read that sophomore year, but of course i don't have it now!" but instead, i'm all, "dammit, why do i have EVERYTHING if i can't find the ONE THING I NEED?"

okay, if you haven't read the fledgling, you should know that it's one of my favorite books ever. i wrote my college application essay on it. it's about this girl who learns how to fly from a goose. and the goose can teach her, see, because she's so small for her age. [it's really more like gliding.] it takes place near the town where i grew up [i think that's why i got it as a gift], and between the rationalization of why she can fly and the realistic location, i remember thinking a lot about how it was possible to write something that seemed true but wasn't actually true. heyyy, fiction writing. and if you're thinking this all sounds really cheesy, well, do you remember college application essays?

i love that i get to have this kind of conversation with friends who work in DC.
b: how are ya?
k: doin ok
k: like, SO ready for recess

i still laugh at recess every time.

1 comment:

  1. I totally relate to having multiple copies of some books and having no idea where what happened to some of your other books. I think I lost all of my Shakespeare books in one of my moves. And it's not fun. But, I'm sure you'll find everything that you need. :)

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