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A review by jola_g
I Murdered My Library by Linda Grant
3.0
Linda Grant confessed that she had murdered her library. I admit to not liking her book as much as I’ve expected.
I adore books about reading. My favourite ones are [b: Howards End Is on the Landing|6657509|Howards End Is on the Landing A Year of Reading from Home|Susan Hill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347764026s/6657509.jpg|6852149] by Susan Hill, [b: Ex Libris|480712|Ex-Libris|Ross King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347422149s/480712.jpg|1856314] by Anne Fadiman and [b: 84, Charing Cross Road|368916|84, Charing Cross Road|Helene Hanff|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1287338794s/368916.jpg|938626] by Helene Hanff. Unfortunately, ‘I murdered My Library’ lacks their charm. On the other hand, I appreciate Linda Grant’s honesty. Her musings are very personal. She even confesses to stealing books: ‘I stole books for quite a long time – three or four years. I stole them because I wanted them. I wanted books in a junkie kind of way’.
What was the motive for murder mentioned in the title? Linda Grant wanted to sell her flat and it turned out that according to estate agents books are a big no-no, because they 'make rooms look messy’ and they are ’too personal as objects to be displayed’. Sounds like a heresy, doesn’t it? Grant followed the estate agents' advice and now feels bad about it. No wonder. She’d been building her library for more than 50 years and got rid of at least half of it.
Despite my reservations, 'I Murdered My Library' is a feast for book lovers. Maybe a diet feast compared to books mentioned above, but anyway. I felt at home reading about Grant's love for literature, collecting books, bookshops, inspecting bookshelves in friends’ houses, compulsive shopping for books, intense relationship with books. So many things sound familiar! I enjoyed Linda Grant's witty musings about literature and life, topped with sprinkles of slightly bitter sense of humour.
Two things bothered me while reading 'I Murdered My Library'. I didn’t like the passage which looks like a love letter to Kindle and Amazon, emphasizing how better Kindle is compared to other e-reader, specific name included. It sounded like a commercial. The other thing that made me feel awkward was an unjust generalization: ‘The next generation don’t want old books – they don’t seem to want books at all.’ Linda Grant should definitely have a look at Goodreads from time to time. Or come to my school and see teenagers reading for pleasure during breaks. Or come to Warsaw Book Fair and survive a stampede of crowds.
It’s such a tiny booklet, that summarizing it would kill your reading pleasure. No more killing, the murder committed by Linda Grant is enough. If you can relate to her vision of hell as a place 'in which eternity is a Kindle with a dead battery' and her confession 'Reading wasn't my religion - it was my oxygen', and if you wish to know the answers to questions like:
What do some writers bury in their gardens?
What novel did Linda Grant get from her ex-boyfriend as a breaking-up present?
Which books survived the genocide?
Who are her favourite authors?
... just indulge in ‘I Murdered My Library’.
I adore books about reading. My favourite ones are [b: Howards End Is on the Landing|6657509|Howards End Is on the Landing A Year of Reading from Home|Susan Hill|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347764026s/6657509.jpg|6852149] by Susan Hill, [b: Ex Libris|480712|Ex-Libris|Ross King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347422149s/480712.jpg|1856314] by Anne Fadiman and [b: 84, Charing Cross Road|368916|84, Charing Cross Road|Helene Hanff|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1287338794s/368916.jpg|938626] by Helene Hanff. Unfortunately, ‘I murdered My Library’ lacks their charm. On the other hand, I appreciate Linda Grant’s honesty. Her musings are very personal. She even confesses to stealing books: ‘I stole books for quite a long time – three or four years. I stole them because I wanted them. I wanted books in a junkie kind of way’.
What was the motive for murder mentioned in the title? Linda Grant wanted to sell her flat and it turned out that according to estate agents books are a big no-no, because they 'make rooms look messy’ and they are ’too personal as objects to be displayed’. Sounds like a heresy, doesn’t it? Grant followed the estate agents' advice and now feels bad about it. No wonder. She’d been building her library for more than 50 years and got rid of at least half of it.
Despite my reservations, 'I Murdered My Library' is a feast for book lovers. Maybe a diet feast compared to books mentioned above, but anyway. I felt at home reading about Grant's love for literature, collecting books, bookshops, inspecting bookshelves in friends’ houses, compulsive shopping for books, intense relationship with books. So many things sound familiar! I enjoyed Linda Grant's witty musings about literature and life, topped with sprinkles of slightly bitter sense of humour.
Two things bothered me while reading 'I Murdered My Library'. I didn’t like the passage which looks like a love letter to Kindle and Amazon, emphasizing how better Kindle is compared to other e-reader, specific name included. It sounded like a commercial. The other thing that made me feel awkward was an unjust generalization: ‘The next generation don’t want old books – they don’t seem to want books at all.’ Linda Grant should definitely have a look at Goodreads from time to time. Or come to my school and see teenagers reading for pleasure during breaks. Or come to Warsaw Book Fair and survive a stampede of crowds.
It’s such a tiny booklet, that summarizing it would kill your reading pleasure. No more killing, the murder committed by Linda Grant is enough. If you can relate to her vision of hell as a place 'in which eternity is a Kindle with a dead battery' and her confession 'Reading wasn't my religion - it was my oxygen', and if you wish to know the answers to questions like:
What do some writers bury in their gardens?
What novel did Linda Grant get from her ex-boyfriend as a breaking-up present?
Which books survived the genocide?
Who are her favourite authors?
... just indulge in ‘I Murdered My Library’.