Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Tom Rachman

Quote by Tom Rachman

“تولی اسم هامفری را صفحهٔ اول همۀ کتاب‌ها نوشت، به این خیال که سال‌ها بعد غریبه‌ای کتاب را باز ‌کند و ‌ببیند رویش نوشته «هامفری اوستروپولر» و از خودش بپرسد این اسم از آنِ که بوده و چرا این کتاب را فروخته است. تولی فکر کرد آدم‌ها معمولاً کتاب‌هایشان را نگه می‌دارند، نه به این خاطر که شاید دوباره بخوانندشان، بلکه چون این اشیا حاوی گذشته‌اند، تار و پود خودشانند در یک مکان خاص، در یک زمان خاص؛ هر کتاب تکه‌ای از خرد فرد است، حالا چه کتاب را دوست داشته باشد، چه از آن خوشش نیامده باشد و فقط تا صفحۀ چهلمش پیش رفته باشد. ممکن است آدم‌ها توی سر خودشان به دام بیفتند، اما زندگی‌شان را صرف بیرون آمدن از آن اتاق دربسته می‌کنند. به همین خاطر هم بود که آدم‌ها بچه‌دار می‌شدند، وطن برایشان مهم می‌شد و بعد از یک سفر طولانی، هیچ‌چیز مثل تختخواب خودشان به آن‌ها نمی‌چسبید.”

Quote by Tom Rachman

Work

The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Tom Rachman
Tom Rachman

Tom Rachman, born in 1974 in London, England, is a British novelist known for his unique perspective and profound insight into modern urban life. His works are celebrated for their exploration of the complexities of human nature in contemporary society. more

You May Also Like

“حاوطها الخوف مثل دائرة. دائرة الخوف هذه كانت ملجأها الوحيد في ظلمة جدار الجفاء. فكانت تنغلق على نفسها في غرفتها، وتغرق في الأفكار المأساوية المخيفة لساعات. بحثت عن شيء تتمسك به في دائرة الخوف هذه. هكذا بدأت في القراءة. كانت تقرأ كل ما تقع عليه يدها. عندما تقرأ، تتخلص لبعض الوقت من الكوابيس المخيفة التي تجثم على صدرها. فالعالم بدا مكانًا أكثر مرحًا بكثير في المجلات واللكتب التي تقرؤها مقارنةً بما هو عليه في أحلامها المزعجة التي تعيش فيها.”

“I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you.” Jennifer states out loud, a large Bible opened in front of her. She turns the page and speaks again. “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let God know your concerns.” I can’t listen to this! When did she start reading this book? Why is she smiling? What is this power these words have on her?”

“The difference essentially between a book and a friend lies not in their greater or lesser wisdom, but in the manner in which we communicate with them, reading being the reverse of conversation, consisting as it does for each one of us in receiving the communication of another’s thought while still being on our own, that is, continuing to enjoy the intellectual sway which we have in solitude and which conversation dispels instantly, and continuing to be open to inspiration, with our minds still at work hard and fruitfully on themselves.”

“For as long as reading is for us the instigator whose magic keys have opened the door to those dwelling-places deep within us that we would not have known how to enter, its role in our lives is salutary. It becomes dangerous on the other hand, when, instead of awakening us to the personal life of the mind, reading tends to take its place, when the truth no longer appears to us as an ideal which we can realize only by the intimate progress of our own thought and the efforts of our own heart, but as something material, deposited between the leaves of books like a honey fully prepared by others and which we need only take the trouble to reach down from the shelves of libraries and then sample passively in a perfect repose of mind and body.”