I always knew that Carrie Bradshaw and I had a lot in common. I have quite an affinity for shoe buying, I tend to pull on my necklace whilst comprising a thesis statement, and I have a stellar group of girlfriends who (lets face it) govern the entire plot of my life. Given these circumstances, I always felt somewhat connected to this beloved character – however, it wasn’t until I heard Carrie proclaim her love for the smell of library books that I realized just how similar we truly are.
Being an English major in London is a dream come true. Although Boston has several adorable used bookshops for me to waste away my afternoons in, London gets the bragging rights for housing some of the most brilliant minds of literary history.
Carrie raved about the sm
ell of library books, but I’ve found that used bookshops universalize that same aroma, without making you return the book! The bookstores here in London have become my haven, a little getaway when I want to pop of the bustling streets and escape from the double decker buses for a while. Poking around the musty basement of a bookstore may sound less than glamorous to some, but for me, it is taking in a bit of history without paying for a museum.
Quickly, Charing Cross Road became my favorite area of London’s city center, housing a block of new and old bookshops with antique first editions, old playbills, records, full anthologies, and even some modern bestsellers. How much more valuable is a copyof “Great Expectations” when it is found in a leather binding, dated to 1904, with a ribbon bookmark attached to its weary pages, and just a few water stains to show the habits of its previous reader? Call me geeky, but seeing a beat up binding can make me pick up the most agonizing work of literature and glorify it, even if just for a few seconds before I read the horrid opening paragraph.
Coming to London, it is impossible to ignore the history, and in
my literature program, the professors make sure we are taking full advantage of the literary advancements that were made on these old and telling streets. Even now, writing this article in the London Library, I’m in the company of Dickens, Eliot, and others, who spent time in these very rooms comprising the books that uncountable numbers of people read and love today. I never thought that being cooped up in a library cubicle was an activity I’d be anxiously awaiting, but because of the history and the importance of figures that have done the same, it has become a sort of educating pastime.
If you are not a reader, I apologize, I’m sure the Carrie Bradshaw reference was a bit of a misleader. But these books are important, not only in their content, but in their history. Plus, what a better way to start a collection for a fancy adult bookshelf! Rich mahogany, antique book ends, scraps of paper and old letters – seems like the perfect setting for a wine and cheese get together. Hey that’s not a bad idea – I better go check if the girls are free!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BU chapter.