the rix mix

• Don't loan a book to someone you may never see again.
• Don't loan a book unsolicited by the borrower.
• Don't loan a book to someone who doesn't read books.
• When you loan a book just assume you're giving it away.
  

I was thinking about this last night as I ordered an inexpensive used copy of The Crock of Gold by James Stephens. One of my all-time favorite books, a 1912 Irish fantasy novel, I ignored all four of the above when I loaned it over 10 years ago. It was a book I picked up now & then for inspiration, always remembered where it was stored or shelved. The cover was taped on. I'd underlined passages. Somehow I've gone without. The entire book is available online for free, but that's not how I want to read The Crock of Gold again. I may not even reread the entire book. I need it back in my book collection, near my bed when it arrives. Of the books I own, the percentage of fiction or fantasy of any kind is small, all paperback. A lot of my books are practically irreplaceable, especially the poetry books, which doesn't make them valuable, only difficult to replace. A Crock of Gold hasn't gone out-of-print since 1912, probably why I put off getting another copy. It was always available. I'd just let the urge to read it pass. I long ago osmosed the novel, & whenever its influence shows up in my prose, the influence is good. So many other influences are not good, or not used well.

James Stephens became friends with James Joyce in the 1920's; they were almost exactly the same age. Joyce was stalled on Finnegan's Wake, & seriously considered inviting Stephens in as co-author. Now I think The Crock of Gold a great Irish novel every young writer ought to read, & Finnegan's Wake a novel no writer needs to read.

Labels: about writing, what I'm reading