Half-way through the afternoon he stopped stock-still in the middle of the floor, Pride and Prejudice in one hand and Wuthering Heights in the other, to deliver a homily on the profession of a bookseller.
"It is the most friendly vocation in the world," Grandfather announced. "A bookseller is the link between mind and mind, the feeder of the hungry, very often the binder up of wounds. There he sits, your bookseller, surrounded by a thousand minds all done up neatly in cardboard cases; beautiful minds, courageous minds, strong minds, wise minds, all sorts and conditions. And there come into him other minds, hungry for beauty, for knowledge, for truth, for love, and to the best of his ability he satisfied them all...Yes....It's a great vocation."
From A City of Bells by Elizabeth Goudge
9 comments:
Wonderful commentary on the mind of the independent bookseller!
the only thing that adds to the wonderfulness of it all is a tea shop book store combination...bliss indeed.
Nice! Are you reading City of Bells? EG delivers great statements.
What a beautiful quote! I should read that Goudge book too. Have you ever wanted to own a small bookstore? It seems to me to be the most alluring of professions.
I've not read City of Bells. How do you like it?
Jody, I'm loving the book as I have everything I've ever read by Ms. Goudge. She soothes my soul.
MK, I think it'd be grand to own a bookstore as long as I could have hired help to take my place whenever I want a day off!
She's one of my favorites as well! I haven't read City of Bells, but I sure would love to! :) Thanks for this excerpt to whet my reading appetite!
I couldn't agree more! Love that EG quote and am very familiar with it! The City of the Bells . . . wish I could jump into that book and live there for a while, and visit that bookshop with it's bowed front window every day.
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