Yesterday the topic of Infinite Jest was trending on twitter, thanks to a picture of large famous novels that had been cut in half.
The person who took the picture was accused of “book murder”. He later wrote an article in the Guardian: I am the ‘book murderer’, but I tear them apart out of love. I like this bit at the end:
“It’s tragic when books are used as trays for a restaurant bill, or bought in bulk to give a pop of colour to someone’s interior design. But the real tragedy is that those books aren’t being read. The codex is just a mortal husk – the soul of a book is the story, and the form of words used to tell it. Authors don’t generally dream of seeing their books cellophaned in mint condition, like Star Wars memorabilia. The biggest compliment you can pay an author is to read their book, let them tell you their story – take it to heart and tell others.”
