Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Suttree

The book that I just finished reading, Suttree, is the first library book that I have ever cringed at touching and felt the urge to wash my hands after reading. It's a well worn paperback and the velvety texture of the cover feels like the perfect breeding ground for all manner of nasty germs. Someone should invent a machine that, like for combs at the barber shop, zaps all of the foul critters. I couldn't eat my lunch and read at the same time. Lunch first, then read.

To top it off, the last person to check it out used a piece of a Camel Menthols carton as a bookmark, and someone else in its sordid history of being used and abused by the unclean felt it necessary to circle all of the big words. And put a little star next to the paragraph where they left off, because finding your place again is a tough job.

I'm being purposefully adumbrate about the plot of this book because I would not want to spoil it for the next person who skulks out of his crepescular existence to borrow this book.

3 comments:

Heidi said...

if i ever win the bigtime lottery, i'm giving my library a donation big enough to replace every single book they've got. it's really really gross to read a book that smells, has stains, and sometimes little chunks in it.

gagknee said...

orrr, you could just buy every book you've ever wanted and create your own private library.

Granite said...

hahaha. I read on to get to your review of the book, only to get to the end of your review about the book. Anyway, Cormac McCarthy is awesome. Read Blood Meridian if you haven't already.