Chapter 12 Part 1: Buying and Reading at Cambridge New and Used

Cambridge is really small, and it takes only forty-five minutes to walk across the city.But in this small town with a radius of only a few miles, there are places to buy books everywhere, which can be regarded as a major cultural feature of this university town.In fact, not only in Cambridge, but in the whole of the UK, there are many bookstores, bookstalls, and newsstands. People love to read books and magazines casually while sitting, standing, waiting for the bus, or taking a nap.This is also a manifestation of national cultural quality.And Cambridge, especially.Especially in the small city center, there are many big bookstores, such as Borders, Heffers and Cambridge University Press bookstores, etc., as well as adjacent second-hand bookstores and old book stalls on the Open Market (market).The biggest one is probably Heffers on Trinity Street (Trinity Street).This bookstore has a long history. It is divided into three floors, full of stacks of books, placed in classified shelves.The books there are mainly academic, and the teachers and students of the university will come to browse books related to their majors every now and then, and you may even meet Nobel Prize winners who are difficult to meet. Borders is open with Starbucks. If you are tired of choosing books, you can go to have a cup of coffee to refresh yourself. The smell of books is mixed with the bitter taste of coffee, which is not interesting.There is also a bookstore that has book reviews next to many books to help readers choose.These book reviews are all handwritten, whether they are positive or negative, the tone is sincere and real.The authors of the book reviews are not famous critics, but local residents or students of Cambridge.In fact, good judgments often come from the people.

Once I have free time, I will take the trouble to go around in various bookstores.These bookstores have their own advantages and disadvantages, but they are all natural and simple, which are very different from the modern big bookstores that have emerged in China in recent years.Book City is really a place that scares me.Thousands of books by thousands of authors, dead and alive, were on display in that huge, crowded building.Countless enchanting covers and countless fancy advertisements make people feel bored at a glance.When I wandered in, it was like a vegan walking into a wholesale deli or an assembly-line farm, all dizzy and ringing in my ears.The scariest scene in my memory was in a certain bookstore in Nanjing. Several large-screen color TVs were placed in the literary area on the second floor, playing a passionate and provocative speech by a master of success non-stop, which exhausted my appetite for buying books. .Cambridge is a small place without any bookstores, but the bookstores here, no matter how big or small, have a peaceful and warm atmosphere that makes people feel comfortable.

Going to the bookstore to search for books is an indispensable part of my daily life just like eating and sleeping.Every time I walk into a bookstore, I feel that the books in front of me are alive: they have expectations, and they are eagerly looking forward to people's reading; endlessly.I like to meet them and get to know them in a quiet atmosphere.When I was young, as long as I got pocket money, the first place I would go to would be the bookstore, and I would give everything to bring back the good books I had been looking forward to for a long time.On the bus back, I couldn't wait to press my cheeks against the cold pages of the book, and I felt a burst of coolness.The smell of paper, ink, and glue always thrills me.My sensitive nose can even distinguish the different smells of different books. For example, the "Selected Grimm's Fairy Tales" that is still with me has a sweet and heart-warming myrtle smell.

I read as fast as a lumberjack cuts down trees.When encountering a book with the same taste, I can't stop, and I must read it like a storm.Although people grow up, the bad habit of overeating cannot be changed.Despite this, there are many famous books that I have never read.Yes, I know how famous these books are and how much I should read them, but I always quickly pass them by and choose other books that catch my eye more easily.Some people regard reading as a whetstone, relying on it to sharpen their intelligence; but for me, reading is just a process of finding the same kind, and I use my intuition and instinct to find what resonates with me. Sense of language, subject matter, atmosphere, thought.In the process of looking for the same kind, I also found the self submerged by the troubled world.Another reason for not reading "classics" is that we are already familiar with the theoretical and practical significance of many great works, so we lack a peaceful state of mind and a clear mind that can truly immerse ourselves in the works.So I said to myself: put these books aside for a while, reading also has to wait for the time, at least I can't read them yet. "Everyone should start reading works that they can understand and like. Don't be superstitious about any model. You must walk a road of love, not a road of obligation." The words of the Nobel Prize-winning writer Hesse further confirmed my persistence.

There are some comedic moments when buying a book.For example, when you and another person fall in love with the same book and reach for it at the same moment.It's always nice to meet someone who loves the same books as me.Once, on the train, I took out two books with me (books are always my best companions during the journey), one is by Hu Lancheng, and the other is Su Dongpo's "Dongpo Zhilin".The girl sitting opposite also found two books from the suitcase. I saw the general outline of the books and knew that one was by Hu Lancheng and the other was by Lin Yutang (they are both in my bookcase) .She also obviously saw the book I was reading, and the two of them looked at each other and couldn't help smiling.Although we have not spoken much along the way, we already know each other.I once told a girlfriend that if one day I want to get married, I should first check the books he has read.I believe in that proverb: You are what you read.Reading constitutes a way of life.You can see a person's preferences, temperament, outlook on life and values ​​from the books he reads.I read about Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng's married life in which "gambling with books and splashing the fragrance of tea" was really good.There are also such congenial couples in the West, such as Anne, editor of the prestigious Sey Publishing House in France, and her husband Francois.Both of them love books like life, and each has a rich collection of books under the same roof.The way Annie warns her husband not to cheat is also unique:

In order to protect my reputation, I have already taken a series of precautions: Initially, every time he was going to travel to attend various meetings, I would put a note in his suitcase: "You have to dare Betray me, and I'll kill you." Later, the note read: "If you dare to betray me, I'll kill her." Then it became "If you dare to betray me, I'll kill myself." Finally It became "If you dare to betray me, I will set your book on fire."