Tuesday 3 July 2012

Being Bibliophilic With Sarah Simpkins

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Check out Sarah's blog,
http://girlwithatopknot.blogspot.com.au/
Bibliophilism is the love of books. The love of inhaling the musty aromas accumulated in the texture of each individual page. The love of simply running your hand across the cover of a book and feeling connected to the world that within it. The simple and pure love of literature. Yes, I am a bibliophilie. I have realised I am not alone in this fetish, the more I get to know other people, the more I realise it is everybody's fetish. Everybody has at least one book they treasure and identify with. And for Sarah Simpkins it is The Book Thief by Marcus Zusack. 

Fellow blogging extraordinaire, vegetarian and friend, Sarah Simpkins joined me today at the bookshelf along  with her trademark uncontrollable hair. We dabbled in all things delightful about books; including the smell (excluding wet ones),  literature we deem to be quality (naturally excluding Jodi Picoult) and the book hotspots around Brisbane (which sadly, now, excludes Borders). Perhaps most importantly we explored the complexities of Sarah's most treasured, and favourite piece of literature. 



The Book Thief written by Australian author Markus Zusak was the first book Sarah became emotionally attached to. It made me cry like a baby, she reminisces. After merely reading a three sentence summary on Wikipedia, I too am almost an emotional wreck.  The book is set in Nazi Germany... it describes a young girl's relationship with her foster parents, the other residents of the neighbourhood, a Jewish fist-fighter who hides in her home during the escalation of World War II (Wikipedia)As an adopted tradition from some lame movie Sarah re-reads her favourite novel every single Christmas; it endures me she ponders. Sarah has read the novel three times. Indeed, with numerous awards and a listing on the New York Times Children's Bestsellers for the past 253 weeks, The Book Thief clearly has something more than an emotionally driven plot. 

It is unlike anything else I have ever read for one thing who the hell is narrating it? And everyone swears. According to Sarah the novel is a rampage of German swearing. As a rather rubbish but enthusiastic German student, I suddenly become angered that this book has slipped under my radar. Sarah reassures me that the harsh language is executed with good intentions. It is all loveable swearing, you know you are good friends with someone when you can swear at them and they don't get offended. With foreign foul mouthing, mysterious narrator and historical knowledge it is easy to see why it has become Sarah's fav novel. Upon final reflection Sarah wisely acknowledges, The novel carries the message of being more open minded as it proves there are several dimensions to people. Dimensions that we may never discover.  

Some bibliophilic facts about Sarah Simpkins, aka Girl With a Top Knot (check out her blog). 
At the bookshelf with Sarah Simpkins
Sarah read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe while residing in China and purchased a Harry Potter  book for 10c at the black market in Bangladesh. She believes that the ideal bookshelf consists of Eating Animals Jonathan Saffran Foer as it is thought provoking, at least one Agatha Christie novel, the Twilight saga (you can't know what a good book is without reading the bad) and Pride and Prejudice as it is the basis for romantic comedies. In a game of burn, read and recommend Sarah; recommend Jane Austen, read Conan Doyle and burnt Charlotte Bronte. 

To seize a great plugging opportunity for an equally great project;  Sarah is working on a documentary involving books and women, yours truly is involved (so you know it's going to be a great).  

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