Old stories

If you are like me, life may not afford you the time to sit down and read an entire book in one sitting.  And, if you are like me, you may find that you think about the story or the characters during the day when you aren't reading that book.  So, if you are like me, and you take a gander at the news online when you aren't reading, you might find it particularly cool to come across a news story that ties in perfectly with the book you have been reading!

I am making my way through People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks.  As someone who loves both history and books, I am really enjoying this history of a very old book!  I haven't finished it yet but was excited to see this story online, a few days ago!  I can't help but wonder about the past of this 500-year-old Nuremberg Chronicle!  They say it proves that you never really know what you have in your basement but, as we are the first owners of our current home, I'm pretty certain ours contains nothing but insulation and dust! 

I am constantly telling my husband when the homes near my daughter's school put "for sale" signs out.  (Those homes are well over 100 years old.)  I love the unique design of each house, love to think about the stories the house could tell, wonder about who lived there during the last century but I'd never even thought about what might be left in the attics!  (I'll never know.  Where I see old charm, old stories and character, my husband sees old pipes, lack of central air and pending roof repairs!)

People of the Book offers a fictional history of a real codex.  Hanna Heath,  an Australian rare-book expert is offered the chance to examine and restore a 500-year-old codex, the Sarajevo Haggadah.  During her examination, she finds a small insect wing, a stain on one of the pages and what appears to be salt on one page.  In the chapters that follow, the book alternates between Hanna's life and people of other centuries--illuminating both what their lives were like back then and how they left their mark on the text.

Speaking of texts, it's time to get back to revising my own, unless I take yet another break to finish reading!