Books

In keeping with my general library/English theme of my last few posts, I feel as though I should discuss books. Cooper Library has somewhere around half a million books. Right now a 4:30 am I'm sitting in the middle of a mountain of information (or the peak because I'm on the sixth floor). I wonder how many times some of these books have been checked out over the years. How many minds have they shaped and expanded? How much knowledge has secreted from this building? Its almost mind boggling to walk amongst the book shelves. Each one of these books is someone's life work. Someone spent years writing some of these books which are walked by everyday. I would imagine that writing a book is one of the biggest contributions that someone can make to society; their influence can last forever, their ideas can shape or break a society. I've actually attempted to write a book. Nothing utterly profound like Hemmingway or Hawthorne would right and certainly no two thousand page monstrosity like Tom Clancy would crap out, but a book nevertheless. I failed; it's really hard to write a good book that means something. But lots of people have done it before. I'm sitting in a cathedral dedicated to the authors who came before me.

Much Love,

Nate