The Physical and The Ethereal

Does something that you cannot heft in your hands have less value, physically and emotionally, than something that does? This is something I've been juggling with for a while, especially when it comes to books. Books are my addiction. Having a book in my hand elicits a response that fills me with joy. But, is it the actual papery thing tied up with sting or is it the contents of it that are important? As I sit and write these words, I am surrounded by books. Having a quick count on the walls either side of me, there are about 380 books on the shelves. Hardback, paperback, signed first editions, special editions, some more loved than others, all wonderful and utter dust magnets. Looking at them, they pull memories from my life.

BlogMatthew Bone28 September 2015Book, Books, eBooks, Selfie, Love, Adiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Bernard Cornwell, Nick Harkaway, Chris Beckett, Chris Wooding, Conn Iggulden, Novels, Long Form, Long read, digital, digital distribution, death, Library, Libraries, Book Stores, Amazon, Interactive, Interactivity, Spotify, Film, Kindle, Franzen, Hay FestivalComment

The Classics - Flashman

Brigadier-General Sir Harry Flashman VC KCB KCIE was Victorian Britain's greatest Hero. Despite being expelled from Rugby School for drunkenness, an event that Thomas Hughes recounted in Tom Brown's Schooldays, Sir Harry turned his life around. Commissioned into the 11th Light Dragoons in 1840, Sir Harry served with distinction from the retreat from Kabul in 1842, charged with both the Light and Heavy Brigades at the Battle of Balaclava, won his VC for his actions in the Indian Mutiny, fought on both sides of the American Civil War and on battlefields from China to South Africa.