Today, let's write a love letter.
After reading so many books for so long, so many books, what kind of feelings do you have for it? What kind of existence is a book for you?
In 2016, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, German writer Burkhard Spinnen published Das Buch: Eine Hommage: A Tribute, which was translated Chinese edition into Love Letters.
Burkhard Spinan wrote love letters for each: new, old, broken, lost, second-hand, favorite, gift-giving, textbook... As well as bookstores, libraries, bookshelves and other space related to books. But he didn't pay homage to e-books for the same reasons that many people do — e-books don't feel. In everyday life, reading text through mobile devices rather than paper prints has long been the norm, and it also saves paper. But in this wave of digitization, literature is the most tenacious resistance. Burkhard Spignan believed that the paper book was the last knight in the literary world.
I am quite receptive to e-books, easy to carry, and can hold many books in one go. But to say "have feelings", it really has to be a paper book. And "having feelings" is precisely the key to our feelings for books. Paper books can be read, bookmarks can be clipped, marked with a pen, can hear the sound of pages, can smell the smell, and now books are very beautiful, which can give the reading experience extra points.
The first love letter from "Love Letter" was written to "New Book". A new book in plastic, like a sealed can, is clean and solid. The new book in our hands, waiting for us to uncover the thin layer of plastic skin, which needs to be exposed to fresh air and needs to be exposed. I especially enjoyed the feeling of unpacking the plastic seal, carefully cutting a hole with scissors, slowly tearing it open, opening the title page again, then turning the inner page, and finally gently closing it. "There are new books to read!" I think so, very happy.
How do readers who don't know About Night Reading feel when they receive the new book? I think I must be very happy, and every time I send books as gifts. Burkhard Spinan wrote about the "book of gifts" in the book, and he felt that books as gifts opened up endless possibilities for people to express their hearts.
I pored over the first book I gave away, which goes back to my elementary school days. When I went to my classmates' birthday party, I carefully selected a best-selling book in the bookstore, "Composition Encyclopedia for Elementary School Students", and wrapped it in colored wrapping paper and gave it to him. A few months later, my birthday arrived, and this classmate gave me a copy of the "Mathematics Application Problems for Elementary School Students", and he even wrapped it more beautifully than I did! Everyone was overjoyed, and our friendship deepened (laughs).
"Books can be used both to commemorate a common experience and to share experiences."
Illustration of the inner pages of "Love Letters"
A heavy lover of paper books, Burkhard Spignan's self-deprecation is an incorrigible collector's control. Walking into his study was like walking into a small library. The cover of "Love Letters" is a corner of his study, two walls made of open bookshelves, the floor is covered with simple blankets, a comfortable sofa, and there are books piled on the side, which can be reached.
The bookshelf is a special piece of furniture, and book lovers always like to fill it up. Burkhard Spignan did the same, filling in more and more until the books filled the shelves, piled up on the floor, and pasted against the empty walls. That's how my bookshelf is now, and to be honest, it feels great! But if you buy some fake books with empty shells to put on the table in order to look like there are many books, it is really a self-deceptive act and will never be advocated.
Original German edition of "Love Letters"
"Every book is a reward for words, and its very existence shows how many barriers this text has crossed before it becomes a lead word." In Love Letters, we see Burkhard Spinan dedicating the most tender and warm words to the book. He is very frank that he has sunk too deep in the world of paper books, books are his lover, confidant, the most ordinary and wonderful existence.
But it seems to me that Burkhard Spinan is not the best writer to write "love letters", the 11th-century Tajikistrian poet Nasir Khusraw is, and the following is his little poem "The Book":
I have a close friend when I live alone,
He poured out his heart to me to solve my problems.
He listens without ears but speaks,
Carefree and able to brush away my troubles.
He has a back but a thousand faces,
All faces are blowing a gentle spring breeze.
I sometimes tapped his back with my hand,
Because I saw dust on his face.
He spoke but did not make a sound,
I was silent because I hadn't met a confidant.
His words are unheard of,
Where to look for such a talker?
I look at his faces all the time,
Relive the insights of the ancient sages.
If I do not visit, he will remain silent,
It is not like a tongue-chewing person chattering endlessly.
Text/Hanzi