There may be stranger reasons for being alive. There are books There’s interlibrary loan. There are books you can fall into and pull up over your head.
Interpretation
Books provide a unique escape and purpose in life, allowing individuals to immerse themselves in different worlds.
In this quote, Jo Walton emphasizes the power of literature as a means of existence and joy. She suggests that the act of reading is not merely a pastime but a profound reason for living, where books are not just objects but gateways to new experiences and realms of imagination. This sentiment portrays the significance of literature in shaping human experience and providing solace in many forms.
In practice
Sharing the quote during a book club meeting to express the value of reading.
The thing about Tolkien, about The Lord of the Rings, is that it's perfect. It's this whole world, this whole process of immersion, this journey. It's not, I'm pretty sure, actually true, but that makes it more amazing, that someone could make it all up. Reading it changes everything.
By and large, most of the work that we see in the great museums throughout the world are populated with people who don't happen to look like me.
A John Updike is a once-in-a-generation phenomenon, if that generation is lucky: so comfortable in so many genres, the same lively, generous intelligence suffusing all he did.
There isn’t any particular relationship between the messages, except that the author has chosen them carefully, so that, when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep. There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.
If you have a story that seems worth telling, and you think you can tell it worthily, then the thing for you to do is to tell it, regardless of whether it has to do with sex, sailors or mounted policemen.
Music has the capacity to touch the innermost reaches of the soul and music gives flight to the imagination.
The giant white cube is now impeding rather than enhancing the rhythms of art. It preprograms a viewer's journey, shifts the emphasis from process to product, and lacks individuality and openness. It's not that art should be seen only in rutty bombed-out environments, but it should seem alive.
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