this monday, i ordered a couple of books: the Shine anthology (recently featured in Daily s-Press: optimistic SF stories.) and: The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond (i followed her Sans Serif blog last year).
also, i ordered a book i had on my list since a while: Annie Dillard's "Pilgim at Tinker Creek" - it's where the quote “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives” is from which i keep returning to (like here and here). i had looked for this book before, but it wasn't available, not as single edition. until this monday, when a copy was in store, from one of the sellers of used books. okay, i thought.
today, the books arrived. and the first thought i had when i saw the Dillard book was: oh, this is indeed a used copy - older than i expected. then i looked for the edition. it states "1974". i checked: 1974 is the year this book was first published. so the book i received actually might be a first edition. and it's so beautiful. it still shines, after all those years. now i wonder about its story, the hands it crossed, the places it has been taken to.
update, some hours later:
i tried to find a photo of the first edition in the web, without much success. then, via facebook, received this message: "that's how my "Pilgrim" first page looks and I'm pretty sure mine's a first edition too -- great book!" - Daniel Hudon (The Four O'Clock Café)
and 2 links i wanted to include: Annie Dillard official website / Annie Dillard Wiki page
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3 comments:
Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek was one of those books that made me: somehow it left a very deep impression that goes beyond anything one can neatly measure. I have distinct recollections of reading it shortly after it was published - I read it in the paperback edition, not even sure how I stumbled on it - while I was a teenager spending time in a country house in rural upstate New York. The spirit of the book has never left me. I keep meaning to get back to my Pilgrim . . .
her book and writing, i first came across it through quotes from friends, and then read about Annie Dillard's writing on a website. i quoted her a couple of times in this blog (and now included the links) and felt, it's a book i want to read, and definitely in her own words, not in a german edition. receiving this old book now feels like a gift.
i've read some other work by Annie Dillard and she is just wonderful! what a great find :)
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