I'm halfway through Chapter 7 of Italo Calvino's If on a winters night a traveler. It might just be my favorite chapter in the entire novel because it is all about the books and other things that Ludmilla keeps in her apartment, how they are arranged and what that says about her.
How many times have I rearranged the books on my shelves to achieve a certain effect? Too many. I used to do a lot more arranging, now I just move things back and forth between the front of the house and the bedroom. I tend to put the books I am proud of reading, or have loved, or think I ought to love on the prominent shelves in the house. The mysteries and pulp fiction I reserve for the bedroom where only those who already know that my tastes are not as high brow as I would like to pretend they are.
The movies are kept in a closed drawer. My addiction to television programs is not something that I am proud of.
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