Bibliophile Bart Van Aken has been collecting quotes about reading for several years. This book contains his own personal selection. Including such declarations of love as "Reading is that fruitful miracle of communication in the midst of solitude" (Marcel Proust), surprising, witty statements like "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read" (Groucho Marx) and wise statements to mull over, including "We can destroy what we have written, but we cannot unwrite it" (Anthony Burgess). Every quote is presented in a unique, original and tailor-made design by Dooreman, with an adapted font or special letter shapes. Where applicable, the quote has also been provided in the original language alongside the English, with a brief explanation, such as the author and context.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, this book was a gift. An amazing gift made personal and unique by my bestie, so I was never going to rate this less than 5 stars.
Now that the bias has been disclosed, it is actually a beautiful book. The cover is metallic gold cloth (not printed gold paper) and each page is set in it's own typeface, one that fits the spirit of the quote (as interpreted by the author and the typesetter, at least).
The best part: each quote includes a small biography of its author and if the quote originated in another language, it's repeated in its native language. This made it easy for me to curl up and read what is unarguably nothing more than a book of quotes as if it was a narrative, beginning to end, Saturday night.
If you are inclined towards collection books, I un-hesitatingly recommend this one.
"Book collecting is an obsession, an occupation, a disease, an addiction, a fascination, a fate.
It is not a hobby."
-Jeanette Winterson
Reading updates
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Started reading
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4 February, 2017:
Finished reading
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4 February, 2017:
Reviewed