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.
The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster.
The life of a writer is tragic: the more we advance, the farther there is to go and the more there is to say, the less time there is to say it.
Art isn't only a painting. Art is anything that is creative, passionate and personal. Art is the unique work of a human being created to touch another. Art is created to have an impact, to change someone else.
But if a stranger in the train asks me my occupation, I never answer "writer" for fear that he may go on to ask me what I write, and to answer "poetry" would embarrass us both, for we both know that nobody can earn a living simply by writing poetry.
A challenging economy is always good for design. It unites necessity and functionality. You are forced to be creative with poor materials.
Writing is not an exercise in excision, it's a journey into sound.
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