The Library Book

 The library has always been a magical place for me.  Just like the author, Susan Orlean, writes about in this book, The Library Book, I have since childhood loved the idea of walking through the library stacks picking out my pile of books to take home and read, returning them for in exchange for more.  There was a time where I also felt a need to buy books to hold onto and my house has bookshelves in many of the rooms.

Sitting surrounded by books is a warm feeling for me and the idea of shopping in the library now, bringing home books that I can read and return, saving money is as good as a bookstore. I love the friendship, camaraderie and quiet of the library.

This book has been patiently waiting for me to pick it up.  To read about libraries and how there was a possibility that someone would set fire to one was intriguing. This book is interesting for a bibliophile.

You learn about the history of libraries and especially about the Los Angeles library system and Central Library.  You also learn about the sad life of Harry Peak, who was always looking for attention and wanted to be known.  He has gained that notoriety now as the Library arsonist.

As Orlean writes, "The idea of being forgotten is terrifying. I fear not that I, personally, will be forgotten, but that we are all doomed to be forgotten - that the sum of life is ultimately nothing; that we experience joy and disappoints and aches and delights and loss, make our little mark on the world and then we vanish, and the mark is erased and it is as if we never existed."  This is a conundrum I have been wrestling with for the last few years also.  How do we make our mark so that we stand out from the multitudes and will be remembered.   

This is why Orlean says she wrote this book. It also could be a reason Harry Peak behaved the way he did. People want to feel special. Peak is seems was a lost soul and had trouble in life finding his path.

This book is so much more than just a book about libraries or the fire that consumed Los Angeles Public Library.  This book helps the library live on in our memories.  It also gives the author's childhood memory of visiting the library with her mother and her memory of visiting the library with her son permanent record.