I stared at the package and shuddered at the horror. In order to know the depths of my grief you must understand that I'm a true bibliophile. I treasure the feel of a cover, the smell of the pages, the pictures.
As I cradled the marred and chewed book in my hands I could barely look at the pages now scarred and torn forever. You see, I could never treat a book so carelessly. I don't throw my books around. I don't bend the covers or put creases in them.
Apparently, the Post Office can!
This is how my book arrived today from a PaperbackSwap sender. Totally the postal service's fault. I think it got shredded in their mail sorting machine. They put the damaged package in a plastic bag. As if that would somehow salvage the package.
Um... what about a note of apology or something? Mr. Postal Worker, you could certainly see that my book was damaged severely, and you just sent it on its merry way, as if nothing occurred?
Now all I'm trying to figure out is how I'm going to endure reading this book. Every time I hold it I will have to look at the wreckage. All I'll be able to think about are the chewed up pages, and I'll read the same paragraph repeatedly because I can't concentrate on anything else.
Excuse me, please. I think I need a tissue.
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Yuck...I hate when books get beat up in the mail. The worst thing to me is either water damage or when there's a sticker on the cover that was ripped off and left the sticky stuff behind.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't complain though, I do enough damage myself, either by taking them to the pool/beach or from eating while reading. It's a rare that a book I own doesn't have crumbs or a food stain in it!
ACK! I cringe just looking at the picture! I, too, am a book lover. I'm currently in a love/hate relationship with the Kindle app on my I-pad. I love that it's so light and thin, (and the books are usually cheaper), but I SO miss the smell of the paper, the feel of the weight of all those bound pages in my hand. It's nice to have a cover with a picture on it that can be referred to now and again. I think I would have gone into shock to get that book in the mail, and I DEFINATELY would've left a note, however polite, letting the post office know of my disappointment.
ReplyDeleteMy condolences! I once ordered a paperback book that had been out of print since the 70's. It was in pristine, like-new condition--that is, until the postman folded it nearly in half to put it in my mailbox. :(
ReplyDeleteTry to enjoy the book, anyway!