The first chapter was slow, and the slowness was the point. The footnotes were better than many novels I read this year. A short story can hold a whole life in twenty pages.
A small example
The author never explains the ending, and that is generous. Some books are best read in one sitting; others need a month and a pencil. Keeping a reading log turned a habit into a conversation.
The author never explains the ending, and that is generous. Reading before bed works best on paper and badly on a phone.
Getting started
The first chapter was slow, and the slowness was the point. A short story can hold a whole life in twenty pages. Libraries remain the best recommendation engine ever built. I underlined less this year and remembered more.
Good translation is invisible until you compare two of them. Reading before bed works best on paper and badly on a phone.
Trade-offs
Some books are best read in one sitting; others need a month and a pencil. Every great book quietly argues with an older one. Abandoning a book is allowed and sometimes wise.
Abandoning a book is allowed and sometimes wise. Poetry rewards reading aloud, even to an empty room.
I underlined less this year and remembered more. Libraries remain the best recommendation engine ever built.
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