News-Record.com

I try not to collect books, but they seem to follow me around. You look up one day and they are stacked on top of shelves and on the floor; they make your home look like you're one of those reclusive nutjobs who never throws anything out. And if you're a bibliophile, just try to part with a book. I put one in the trash the other day -- it was just too old and worn out to salvage -- and I felt as if I was burying my beloved dog.

So when one of my co-workers said she had just discovered John Irving and had not yet read "The World According to Garp," I eagerly loaned her my 30-year-old copy of the hardback. But not before I bored her with my glowing review of it. I'm not even sure what I was doing with a hardback 30 years ago. The price for this one was $10.95; expensive on a beginning reporter's salary. It would certainly bring $27.95 if published today. Unfortunately, it's not a 1st edition. I haven't cracked it once since I read it, so why have I kept it? Because someday when I have more time, I'm going to reread it. Really, I am.

I tried rereading "On the Road" and "Lord of the Rings" recently, both of which I loved when I read them at 20. I couldn't get through either. Both were written in the 50's, as was I. Means that one of us is getting old. Don't tell me which. I tried rereading "Lonesome Dove," but the TV mini-series, which I loved, ruined the imaginative power of McMurtry's written word.