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Quote of the Day: Bacon (Francis) on Books
“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.” — Francis Bacon
I first came across this quotation not through reading Francis Bacon (indeed, where I encountered it did not cite him at all), but in the book Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke. It is etched on a brass plaque on the workshop door of Mortimer Folchart, the book binder, known in the book also by name Silvertongue. For Mo (as he is called by his daughter), the quotation is not merely an expression of his love of books, but also a riddle and a warning, for Mo has the ability to give actual life to the characters in the books he reads should he read them aloud. He can even draw those figures out from the pages and into the real world or send them (and others) back. This was how he lost his wife, how he drew a villain who has been hunting him ever since, and how he drew out a rogue whose allegiance is doubtful, but who is trying to connive his own way back into his story.
Inkheart is the first of a 3 book series, including Inkspell and Inkdeath, and though the series has been marketed here as “Young Adult” because the protagonist is Mo’s daughter Meggie, a girl of 12 on the cusp of womanhood, but the themes of story are quite wide-ranging. The series is really a complicated fairy tale in the classic sense: full of adventure, grim death, betrayal, adultery, and magic, and Funke is a master of her craft.
Published in Literature
Loved these – though I ostensibly bought them for fantasy-series loving nieces and nephews – busted.
My book club chose Lolita. Is there a regurgitation category?
The old school in my town (the one I wrote about showing movies in a post called “Old School”), had a Bacon quote carved over the main entrance.
“Knowledge is Power”.
I hope so, and that Lady Chatterly’s Lover is in it, too. They’re also in the group covered by my QOTD a few months ago—Dorothy Parker’s, “This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly; it should be thrown with great force.”
Thanks, Skip, will check these out. Your post made me think, of all the hundred (thousands?) of books I’ve read in my life, how very few there are that have really stuck with me, or that I’ve gone back to again and again.
Who wouldn’t like that?
Where is that Amazon link again?
Oh, Skip, you are too kind. My trilogy will be on my doorstep already on Wednesday. Thank you, Prime. I read your post, laughed mine in, and went straight to Amazon. It was the first app I put on my phone.
Sounds like interesting books. Thanks for the recommendation!
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I thought that was “Knowledge is Good”
Go Faber!
“Knowledge is Good” – Thanks GLDIII, great movie!!
(It’s figuring out how to use it that’s the problem)