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Tom Stoppard and the Bookcase of Desire
January 29, 2008
I covet Tom Stoppard's T. Anthony traveling bookcase.Call it the Anti-Kindle, but as Joe Wikert commented on my post yesterday, "Can't we have both?"
I think Sir Tom would agree. He says of his case that “It goes well beyond its function...There are all kinds of connections it brings with it. It’s like having something substantial which you don’t have to justify because it does have a use, but it’s also like bringing a bit of home with you.”
However, I think he also recognizes that circumstances sometimes dictate different choices. I met him a few years ago (believe me, he does not remember the encounter) at a London Book Fair demonstration of Margaret Atwood's The Long Pen. He was fascinated by the presentation and the device.
Stoppard says he loves his case because “If I am on a journey where I only have time to read one-and-a-half books, I never know which one-and-a-half I’ll feel like reading...So I bring eight.”
Maybe someone should give him a demonstration of a Kindle. He might decide the traveling bookcase would make a fabulous piece of decor.
Posted by Bethanne Patrick on January 29, 2008 | Comments (5)
