blodeuedd

Perusing the net, trying to find a negative review of "The Golden Compass", I remembered something I saw on www.brightweavings.com. In the discussion forum, someone was starting to read "The Fionavar Tapestry" and a person commented, "I envy you. I'll never again read Fionavar for the first time."

Thinking back on the books or movies or poems I love best, I can't help but regret that I know them, if just for the fact that I'll never feel the thrill of discovery when revisiting them. Though trading the thrill of the new for the satisfaction of the well-loved and familiar is not necessarily a bad thing, I sometimes wish that I could erase my memory and start afresh, but with a list of all the books I'd be sure to love. What sort of person would I become then?

On that same discussion forum, Guy Gavriel Kay said that for years, his brother carried in his wallet a laminated card that read: "If you find me and I've lost my memory, please give me these books to read:", followed by a list of his favourite books. Reading that made my heart tighten up so much that I think I'll follow his example and do the same.