Colonel Mustard in the library with a pen (or pencil)
Every two weeks I go to the library. I love the library. It’s like that whole kid-in-a-candy-store thing.
Over the years I have noticed an odd phenomenon when borrowing books - some people, for some reason known only to them, underline stuff.
I am currently reading Leviathan by Paul Auster and here is a random sampling of stuff that has been underlined:
thickets
lo and behold
They hadn’t seen each other in more than
hunch
chipper
wriggle out of it
made him feel sharper
haunches
rumpled
spigot
Here’s my question: what the fuck?
If anyone out there can enlighten me, I would be most grateful.
November 7th, 2004 at 4:00 pm
Mmm…I reckon someone had to do an essay on it, and those words jumped out as being important.
Or, they could have just been a really pedantic kind of reader.
Either way, they should Not be doing it to a library book, it’s vandalising public property
*gets down off soap box*
November 7th, 2004 at 4:14 pm
Yeah, my first thought is someone writing an essay, but none of those words is particularly significant. It’s always possible that the person is writing an essay but has no idea what they are doing. And yeah, people should NOT mark up library books.
November 7th, 2004 at 5:51 pm
I love the library too…I could live in it!
November 7th, 2004 at 6:57 pm
Maybe it’s a place-marking behavior. Rude, at any rate.
(Hi, I surfed here from BlogExplosion. Nice site!)
November 7th, 2004 at 10:00 pm
Looks like the mind of a serial-dime-novel killer to me….
November 7th, 2004 at 11:02 pm
If you’re interested in writings inside books… (which is one of the best things ever to dsicover!) please please please do read “Marginalia” by Billy Collins. You’ll truly appreciate it. this is a wonderful poem. go read! don’t forget!
julia, your newest reader
November 8th, 2004 at 12:00 am
I’m a librarian and let me tell you, this frustrates us to no end. WTF? Must you destroy property? But our feeling is, it’s just one more thing their tax dollars will have to replace next fiscal year
November 8th, 2004 at 12:21 am
I wish I could tell you about it. My own hypothesis is that some students are taking notes…the wrong way.
I don’t mind annotating books, as long as it’s your own books you’re annotating; leave the library’s alone!
November 8th, 2004 at 1:35 am
that is so rude to do that. no respect!
November 8th, 2004 at 1:59 am
I feel your annoyance!… What’s worse is those that tear pages OUT of the books. New from Blog Explosion BTW
November 8th, 2004 at 2:02 am
I guess the person who underlined these lines probably didn’t understand them.. I too hate people underlining, folding pages, etc.
November 9th, 2004 at 2:27 pm
If you rearrange the letters of all those words that were underlined, it spells “Peanut butter and chocolate conspiracy- Beware”
November 9th, 2004 at 4:39 pm
I miss the library. Unfortunately, my library now limits my use of it so much that it’s not even worth it anymore. *sigh*
November 11th, 2004 at 3:34 pm
Wow, nice to see someone else reading Auster, probably my favorite author of all time. Leviathan’s one of his best, too. Hope you’re enjoying it.
November 13th, 2004 at 7:27 am
It is performance art, Obviously!
Actually, No….If read in reverse it sounds like the love story between two amorous wolves. ‘Spigot & Chipper’, a modern love story for our time, with wolves.
p.s. I apologise, I clearly need to step away from the keyboard, and take a break from studying that involves actual sleep. Not just more caffeine. I could not post this comment and save myself the imminent embarrassment, but where’s the fun in that?
November 13th, 2004 at 10:41 am
Sleep is for the weak! (And caffeine is for the strong and pure of heart)
November 17th, 2004 at 9:46 am
Excellent book! Read if a few years back and I’m still reading a bunch of Auster stuff!