THE WHOLE OF THE BOOK

When i read a book to the end and reach the last word of the last page I take a pause and some sort of a deep breath. Some seconds of silence. Gotta confess that I never finish a book I don't like. I am, as Borges use to say, an hedonistic reader. Reading for the pleasure of it. And then, a bit of a relashionship has been established forever with the object and the ideas I just welcome to my brain. Time may pass. Other books will come and be added. But that one i've read. It becomes a part of me. Of what my mind is made of. No matter if I may agree or not with what the volume said to me. It has become a part of my very personal cultural heritage. Time can take away a big or small chunk of it but I won't forget I read it. The mention of the title will ring a bell and hopefully will bring some memories back. In most of the cases that book will become part of my private library as well. That will keep it handy as we like to keep friends we spent good times with. Depending of our free time or the rush of our lives, we can only read a certain limited number of books. As Carl Sagan said, the trick is to know how to choose. But if we got until the end, at least in my case, it was well choosen. Depending of our reading habits what we read is what we think and what we know. We will have at least an opinion. And having an opinion, about anything, is something I often consider important, regardless the weight of the subject. Deep, shallow or in between. Because life itself is made of that kind of different moments, not always grave, not always funny, shallow or profound.

To read a complete book and keep it on the shelves of my mind and my library is in any case something I enjoy a lot. The possession of the body and the "soul" until death tear us apart!