A Tribute to the Books I'll Never Read

The list of books he wants to read ...

It’s like he’s embarked on a never-ending voyage, and when he started this quest he never quite imagined it would take up all his time.

He thinks back to when he made it into a mission... And he remembers a book he read that changed him.

He peers across his shoulder at the bookshelf in his reading room, where he's stowed away all of the Great ones. A lot of these Great ones he's given away, over time — to make room for newer books. The ones he's read are visibly worn and pushed over to the side. He takes one of them off the shelf now and examines the cover. He flips it over to read the blurb, and then he wallows in his reclined chair. He puts his feet up and opens the book to a fold in the page — a page where he had once read something that had meant a great deal to him; a piece of a puzzle to the ancient past, perhaps. The fold in the page was marked, by him, for some specific reason. And he finds it. And he escapes into a realm of fantasy, which takes him far away from the world of mediocrity; far away, from the ... matrix. His imagination… has been ignited.

But, over the years there’s been too many books, and he can’t remember everything he’s read. His own talent for words often clashes with a lack of originality; and the books on his shelf are full of unique thoughts, which, often serve to reinforce his own inadequacy. But it also gives him inspiration. It serves to spur him on ... in his quest. When comparing the vast and endless bookshelves that line the libraries of the world; where one may walk aisle after aisle; where books fill the shelves from the ground to ceiling and then rise up each flight of stairs — for what appears to be miles, up and up — how can he be sure that these particular books, in his study, are the right ones? How does one even know which books to read, and which ones not to?

He wants to read the tried and true books; the books that have withstood the test of time. And after reading many, many books, he can now discern a great book from amongst a gigantic pile of slosh. There’s just not enough time in the world to read all these other books, and he knows it. He’s under no delusion. But, of course, there’s a part of him that wants to read all of them, anyway...

He did the math though, and he's sure that he can only read some 10 thousand books in his lifetime; yet, there are a staggering 170 million current books in existence! He's come to an abrupt realization. And it slaps him across the face so hard that it brings him straight out of his fantasy — perhaps the reader can see it now, too...

Why should anyone even read a single thing he writes at all?

…Wouldn't it be a waste of valuable time for the reader to spend even a few minutes on these words of his…

It would be a disservice to all the books collecting dust, upon the endless shelves, in all the libraries of the world — a disservice to all those countless hours sacrificed by someone who went through the pains to publish a book. He knows that if he only reads three books per week, he might just hit ten thousand books in his lifetime. Therefore, he needs to be quite selective with the books that he chooses to read. But, it would still be like a never-ending voyage to absorb what is otherwise just a drop in the ocean.…

Read that again...

So he has decided to read the books that will leave a lasting impression. And he’s been on the hunt, ever since, for books that will accomplish this. He’s on the hunt for the right books, in the vast ocean. He’s got thousands of books to go, and he’ll start with these ones on the shelf…



Words: 690