2017年5月27日星期六

Abundance . . .


图片取自 Novel Kicks

…… Just think about it: what can make human beings suffer more than awareness of their limits? I don't mean fear of death, I mean our suffering at realizing our intelligence is limited. But when we go into library and look at all those bookcases stretching into the distance, what descends on our soul, if not grace? Spiritually, we can at last fill the terrible emptiness that makes us just worms creeping on this earth. Those endless bookshelves reflect back to us an ideal image, the image of the full range of the human mind. Then all the paths are made plain, everything's newly created once more, and we move closer to a mystical vision of Abundance. The inexhaustible milk of human culture, right here, within our reach. Help yourself, it's free. Borrow, because as much as accumulation of material things impoverishes the soul, cultural abundance enriches it. My culture doesn't stop where someone else's begins. In fact, the library is the place where the greatest solidarity between humans takes place. Humanity, in its most depressing and suffering state, the most beautiful humanity there is, actually the sinners, the unemployed, the cold weather refugees, they're all around me here. Knock and it shall be opened to you, ask and you shall be served . . . What? You're laughing? Oh good grief, for once I was being serious, and I got carried away again. But you're right, let me put it more clearly. So you can understand, I'll tell you who typically never sets foot here: a rich white man between the ages of thirty-five and fifty. Why? Because in the group age, he's part of the barbaric ruling class. Monsieur doesn't make use of public services. You'll never see Monsieur on a bus. Monsieur doesn't need to share with other people, because Monsieur owns things. It's a long time now since Monsieur's madame went to borrow some eggs from neighbour. Because for Mother's day, she got a three-speed mixer, and if Monsieur cares to read a book, he buys it. But in any case, reading is already an act of weakness. Monsieur doesn't have the time. He has a subscription to a sports club. Does he ever think about facilities provided by his local council? No, he thinks he's all powerful, a self-made man, what an ass. ……

The Library of Unrequited Love, P66~68
Sophie Divry, translated by Siân Reynolds
ISBN 978-0-85705-141-7



隨意翻開你手邊的一本書的任何一頁,
寫下映入眼簾的第一個句子,
或是寫下你正在閱讀的書籍的句子,
標上書名、ISBN和頁數,當作回應。

閱讀讓思想更有力量,我們一起來讀書。

~ 松露玫瑰 ~


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