Tsundoku*
The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library
-Albert Einstein
By Pravat Kumar Padhy
During my college days, I used to make a point to have a quick glance at the literature section. Since then, it has been always my habit to visit the nearby library during my stay on official tours. I enquire with my colleagues or from the help desk of the hotels about the nearby location. On the weekend, I make a breezy walk holding my notebook and note down the new arrivals and golden lines of the poems of the olden days.
Recently I came
across an interesting article. Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
The New York Times
bestseller author, believes the unread
books in our
library heighten us of all that we
don't know. He adds
“Indeed,
the more you
know, the larger the rows of unread
books. Let us call
this collection
of unread books
an antilibrary.”
I pile up a deep glance at my personal collections and feel
there are so many layers of wisdom in between ‘sound and silence’.
in early twilight
as if the stars descend
on the jasmine tree
how wonderful to add
one more from mine
Author’s Notes:
1. Antilibrary – An unread pile of books that one intends to read.
2. Reference to the article on
Tsundoku: https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/do-i-own-too-many-books/
Contemporary Haibun Online, Issue 19.3, 2023 (Ed. Tish Davis)
https://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/cho19-3-table-of-contents/pravat-kumar-padhy-tsundoku/
