I must say that of all our readings from the beginning of the semester, Eva Hoffman’s Lost in Translation is by far my favorite to date. Although I do not relate to her complete life, I can relate to her relationship with the library. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always loved going to the library. I loved my school’s library in elementary school, but most of all, I loved my local library. My parents would take me just about every week or two weeks just like Hoffman’s mother took her. I especially loved Hoffman’s quote when she described the library. She says in part, “the space of mystery and magic, one whose threshold I stand a humble acolyte.” I felt the same way. The library was a magical place for me too. I would spend hours on end there, reading different books and picking out many to take home. Often, I could be seen leaving with a pretty large stack of books, and like Hoffman, when I got home, I would immediately begin to read one. I loved reading and still do to this day. I like being whisked to another time. I used to wish like Hoffman did for reality to imitate art. I wished my life was at times like my stories. That would be fun!
When Hoffman describes reading the books about the boarding schools it reminded me of a time when I had to sneak a book because of its contents. It was a chapter book by Judy Blume entitled Forever. Through the whispers in middle school I heard about this book and bought it when the book fair came to school. It was a story about young love and what young lovers do. I never read a book so fast in my life for fear it would be taken away and I wouldn’t know how it ended. I guess it was racy at the time due to the descriptive language which left little to the imagination. In the end, I loaned the book to my cousin, whose mom took notice of her sudden voracious reading habit. It got taken away, and of course my mom was called because it was my book! The book remained in my dad’s undershirt drawer for years; I guess my parents thought I wouldn’t ever find it??
There was one particular book I would continually take out over and over. I just loved everything about this particular story. Well a couple of years ago I was searching around Barnes and Noble’s website, and on a whim I looked at the Out of Print books. I ended up finding that book, and my boyfriend bought me one of the copies from a vendor for my birthday. This book that I read over and over is a nice reminder of the Saturdays I spent in the library. It’s one of my most prized possessions! Every now and then I look at this book and am immediately transported back in time to a place filled with mystery and magic.
When Hoffman describes reading the books about the boarding schools it reminded me of a time when I had to sneak a book because of its contents. It was a chapter book by Judy Blume entitled Forever. Through the whispers in middle school I heard about this book and bought it when the book fair came to school. It was a story about young love and what young lovers do. I never read a book so fast in my life for fear it would be taken away and I wouldn’t know how it ended. I guess it was racy at the time due to the descriptive language which left little to the imagination. In the end, I loaned the book to my cousin, whose mom took notice of her sudden voracious reading habit. It got taken away, and of course my mom was called because it was my book! The book remained in my dad’s undershirt drawer for years; I guess my parents thought I wouldn’t ever find it??
There was one particular book I would continually take out over and over. I just loved everything about this particular story. Well a couple of years ago I was searching around Barnes and Noble’s website, and on a whim I looked at the Out of Print books. I ended up finding that book, and my boyfriend bought me one of the copies from a vendor for my birthday. This book that I read over and over is a nice reminder of the Saturdays I spent in the library. It’s one of my most prized possessions! Every now and then I look at this book and am immediately transported back in time to a place filled with mystery and magic.
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