What a wonderful book.
With a beautiful cover to boot.
Howards End is on the Landing, by Susan Hill, is a love letter to books and the role they play in the lives of dedicated readers everywhere. It starts simply enough; the author is on the hunt for a specific book in her home filled with books. As she searches, she realizes just how many books she either has not yet read, or should reread, and how many have been neglected for so many years. Her decision to spend a year reading from the stacks makes up the basis of this book, which is rather like a collection of essays around various musings inspired by her close re-examination of the books she owns.
Hill is British, and she recently commented on Nonsuch Book's site that her American publisher had rejected the book, on the grounds that they didn't think Americans would "get it."
I'd sure like to know who that daft publisher is. Are there some authors Hill talks about that I've never heard of? Sure. Does it matter? Not in the least. Any reader who is passionate about books and reading--and I count myself in that fine company--would understand and identify with Hill's adventures in her own private library. Just read what she has to say about the role of books in her life, literally and otherwise:
"But if the books I have read have helped to form me, then probably nobody else who ever lived has read exactly the same books, all the same books and only the same books, as me. So just as my genes and the soul within me make me uniquely me, so I am the unique sum of the books I have read. I am my literary DNA. ...
"All through the house, the books are murmuring, turning over in sleep like pebbles on the shoreline as the tide recedes.
"But when I reach the stone-flagged hall and stand for a moment, listening, everything falls silent. I hear the comforting, inhabited, friendly silence of a house full of books."
Anyone who loves books, anywhere in the world, will understand. I understand that there is an American publisher somewhere who has better sense and will be bringing out an American edition. Kudos to them. In the meantime, you can visit Hill's website and purchase the book directly. Then set aside some time to get lost in her literary world, and keep a notepad nearby--you may find yourself jotting down a list of books to check out.
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