"Of Books There Are No End" - Thank God for That!

Last night I finished the excellently conceived and equally excellently written "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I plan to write at least one post about this book, but for now want to reflect on something that Annie Barrows wrote in the afterword to the paperback edition. Barrows (Shaffer's niece) took over when her aunt was too ill (she died in February of 2008) to complete the substantial rewriting required by the publisher.

In the afterward Barrows makes the following comment:

"The only flaw in the feast is that it ends. If I could
have anything I wanted, I would choose story, without
end, and it seems that I have a lot of company in that. I
have received many letters from readers all over the
world bemoaning the fact that the book comes to an
end."

This is, of course, a dilemma faced by all readers both about individual books and also series written by the same author. Barrows offers a partial solution (there is no complete solution) when she suggests that the book does continue every time two people talk about it. There is certainly truth in that, but there is something else to be kept in mind - something that I have been thinking about in my reading of Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire novels.

As anyone who reads this blog can tell, I am ripping through those books, six so far in 2009. They are both a quick read and addictive to the point that I get some sense of withdrawal if I am not reading one. And while there are no new Thirkell novels coming out, the fact that there are close to 30 in the series means it will be a while before I face the last one. But the question still remains should I slow down and spread them out more gradually - at the current rate I will probably finish them at the end of next year.

I have thought about that, but decided against it for two different reasons. One (and it's not the most important) is that we all need to remember that we don't have unlimited time to read every book that we want to read. More importantly for me is something that I have realized from following Elaine's blog, Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover. In the past year Elaine has written about close to a dozen authors that that I had never even heard of, much less read. Every time I have followed one of her recommendations, I have enjoyed it immensely.

Just this past week Elaine wrote about a book by E. F. Benson entitled "An Autumn Sowing," which she praised highly while at the same time mentioning that it was out of print and hard to get. I went directly to the Internet and was fortunate enough to find a copy that arrived just yesterday - while I was at it I also ordered the next two Thirkell novels as well as "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," which is now out in paperback. According to the introduction to "An Autumn Sowing," Benson wrote close to 100 books in his lifetime so if I enjoy this one, as I think I will, there will be plenty new material for the future.

Following Elaine's blog has made me realize what perhaps should have been obvious, while each author's work is finite, the total universe of good books is infinite. Anyone who enjoys reading is always going to find more authors that he or she enjoys. So, in other words, the fact that "Of books there is no end," is really not the problem, it's part of the solution!