I've already looked at the fab links on the town and links to some of the town's bookstores and the Almanac. Thanks, Harriet, this is Paradise!

"I sometimes wonder whether century-old ruins look so beautiful to us because they were meant to ruin in a beautiful way. There was a Romiantic fascination with structural decay; wealthy gentry had custom-built ruins erected on their estates, their own little Country Churchyards to elegize in. And so in a time when many stonemasons were engaged with increasingly elaborate cities of the dead, lavishly constructed urban cemeteries where only pestilential graveyards once stood, soon you get architects thinking of decay too.

And it's this - following one of Harriet's thoughts -- that pulled me into the book. The correlation between Buildings and Books and Humans: of age, beauty, decay, and survival of some part or some memory of what once was there. There something bittersweet about all this -- a sadness as well as pleasure, and amidst real laugh out loud lines too.

There's so much in Collins' book but I am reminded of the cellar:

That's initially what I'm seeing and in that respect the jumping around is controlled and single minded. There's a pattern IMO. Maybe my views will change and I'll see a larger pattern in his writing or maybe the idea of there even being a pattern will collapse after reading further into Sixpence House.

I did the unthinkable for me in not immediately reading this book about books when I first found it. That shows total self-restraint, something I'm not known for when it comes to books. I wanted to discover this book day-by-day in the company of other bibliophiles.

Ginny! Yea, Ginny is posting here! We posted at the same time; or else I was slowly writing and rewriting while you posted in a burst with those lovely photos. And then Marj's images of the San Francisco 'Palace'!

I'm with you in 'reeling in shock' from Collins' various thoughts and tidbits of information. And it was a revelation to find out he has a PhD in Classics but then he tells us -- and shows us-- that he makes his living writing about history.

The humor is everywhere. Collins -- originally from Britain -- says that Hay-On-Wye is on the border of Wales and England and that the two countries have "clobbered" each other forever.

And when Collins is invited to lunch at the castle (in the kitchen -- so much for posh) a caretaker lets them in:

As Collins is locked up inside the kitchen Richard Booth, the King of Hay, tells him "You are my new American." I laughed lots, yet can't explain why its funny with the difference between King John's 'guest' and the King of Hay's 'guest' and Vincent Price thrown in to boot.

I think GINNY is more directed in her literature collection than I am. I still haven't figured out what it is that I collect and at my age it's a little late to choose. I more or less collect authors I enjoy reading and a few subjects, such as books on glass, geography, and place. Probably more books on 'place' than any other subject.

I like the following idea but it doesn't define my library at all:

I have been buying first-editions of books but if they're old and in pristine or near-pristine condition then I'm scared of handling them or actually (gasp!) reading them. And ditto on uncut pages. So, like Ginny, I buy copies of the same title, copies that I can read and use with a light heart. Doesn't make sense, does it? I've pulled away from such firsts for that reason. Books are to be read, when all's said and done.

I like old books with a history, lovingly used. With signatures of previous owners and maybe an interesting comment inked in, slightly rubbed boards are okay; TEG (top edge gilt) and gilt lettering on the spine, a tight book rather than one with a weak hinge or loose pages. But sometimes I have a tattered copy of an old book and love it all the same.

I like an interesting book, BaBi. I've gotten away from firsts of authors I like because of the expense and then I tend to thumb through books many times. Books get used at my house so I prefer good books that are sturdy and having a history is fine too. History: obviously read, signed by previous owner, inked comments, things like a news clipping inserted that someone thought was worthy of keeping with the book -- well-loved in other words. I don't have many paperbacks because they wear out too quickly and the binding soon falls apart as I'm reading. I prefer older hardbacks when possible because they're often cheaper than new ones and, since the old books were already in print, I don't feel guilty about supporting deforestation. (That's a conceit of mine I know since trees were cut once upon a time for the old books too.)

______________________________________

GINNY asks "does having an opinion of the worth of anything make you a snob?" That makes me wonder. Is Collins a snob?

A snob according to a dictionary definition is one who slavishly imitates people of wealth or rank, and pretends intellectual superiority and condescends to others, rather than someone who thinks independently and has opinions of their own. Using the dictionary definition, I'd say that Paul Collins isn't a snob and he certainly has his own opinions!

______________________________________

What's the deal with Morgan? Collins writes that "It has been two years since we last visited [Hay]; Morgan was still gestating." (18)

How old is Morgan? He can walk of sorts. At one point Collins carries Morgan on his shoulders which requires a child to have a upper body strength to remain upright (and strength and coordination in hands to grasp). I confess that arithmatic is not my strong suit and I still can't figure out if Morgan is a baby or a child.

HARRIET, loved the quote and can see the deacon playing with a water pistol in church! I just realized that when you click on the Almanac link in the heading you get a different excerpt each day. Today it's on Snail Mail.

It's a mistake to equate old books with being expensive, dirty, and moldy. (Although I think if you buy from the King of Hay you'd have to beware, dirt seems to cover everything.)

Like Collins, I find many of my books on the internet and would return to the seller any dirty or moldy book. With experience you learn which book dealers are reputable and describe their books accurately and sell the best condition. It's from those dealers that you (meaning me) make additional purchases.

I can't afford new books. It's regrettable. With more money I could buy new books which is faster and easier than finding decent copies in older books. However, I've made of necessity a pleasurable game:

Marvelle

Scrawler Anne! At last, another person who loves old books. There is that link connecting us to previous book owners, known and unknown, and the past which becomes part of us through holding and reading old books.

I hope your book arrives soon, Barbara. Surely it will.

So far the Collins have moved to Hay-On-Wye and are househunting; Paul has met Richard Booth, The King of Hay; and the Collins have taken up temporary residence in 'The Apartment, 4 High Town' in a 16th Century building -- an apartment above a bookstore and overlooking old Butter Market:

"It is reached by back courtyard stairs, which take us past each of [the] other tenants -- a furniture restorer, an Eastern European bookseller, and an accountant . . . . We drag our bags up and unlock our door, to reveal yet two more flights of stairs."

"The Apartment takes up the top two floors of the building . . . . It is perfect: creaking wood, beams everywhere, and it looks out commandingly over the town below. The top floor is two bedrooms, which arch in with the roof, all heavy beams and big wooden pegs, and an assortment of exceedingly solid joists and bars and nuts and massy bolts. A shipbuilder might be able to figure out what actually holds it all together, since the ceiling looks exactly as if someone flipped the keel of an old clipper ship upside down." (52-3)

This is where the Collins are staying while househunting. Lots of stairs which wouldn't be suitable longterm for a family with a young child but perhaps okay for the short-term. They've ignored the 'suburbs' of newer homes in Hay and are looking for something old.

What's interesting to me is this idea of settling somewhere at will. Paul Collins may have been born in the UK (I think he was) but he was raised in the US. Does the US now allow dual-citizenship?

Can the Collins's plunk themselves down in Wales, buy a house, and feel at home? In this first section of the book Collins compares British and American national characteristics. I don't know if he's trying to sort out where he belongs or why the comparison is there at all unless its just an observation.

Anyway, here is a possible theme, one of them, to the book: A Sense of Place; and specifically 'What makes a place a home?'

Yeah! Babs has her book. We've only just begun to read so you can catch up on the first few pages and join in the fun. The more booklovers the better!

I've already been changing the quote in the header of my posts in this discussion so there's a new one each post. I'm limiting myself to quotes about books because I have so many but I'd enjoy hearing other types. I do love quotes!

What about when you move though? I've lived in other countries and know that when you step outside of your house, your home changes as well. How comfortable is anyone in a place, the larger geographry outside a single building, where the culture may be different, the shared experiences with neighbors don't exist and so on. Can one ever make that place a home, and how does that happen?

How nice to know that Shakespeare and Company is still operating. I have the Sylvia Beach book of the same name where she talks of establishing the bookstore in 1919 and running it. And she was the one who first dared to print James Joyce's Ulysses. How could Mr. Pearson not want to stay there? I'd stay -- smile

(I've only read the first 64 pages but I think it's serious with a healthy dose of humor.)

It's only been a few hours since I last posted but I found all your wonderful posts. I agree about Paul Collins humor but it doesn't mean that he isn't serious -- passionately serious -- about books and the book-life. He reports he has this recurring dream, one which I have too, that goes like this:

Collins remembers this dream as he walks into the barn at Booth's but finds . . . disappointment. He says: "It is appalling. Books are stacked everywhere in toppled and crumbling piles." Well, so much for optimism, it can't win all the time.

Marj I am dying to get to get to Detroit, the link is fascinating. I've saved it so I can peruse it at my leisure; although I looked at the photo section of new acquisitions and yikes! the prices are way way way out of my reach. Still it's fun to windowshop.

Joan, yes we're still on for Lucca and onward France, or at least Shakespeare and Company. I do really want to hear about the "employees" and love the naming of George's daughter. Oh, we'll have to leave Mr. Pearson at the hotel when we take the baths at Lucca and dinner at Lord B's (see the Collins Almanac's Archives for October 30th). Mr. Pearson would not be happy at that dinner. Come to think of it, neither would I.

Can I ask that people be careful and not reveal any tidbits from advance reading. I like the joy in discovery of my reading the next pages. It's easy for me to forget where we've stopped in our reading unless I mark the end page (p64 Nov 7) with a sticky-note. And when I refer to a passage in a book I look up the page number to assure I'm not unintentionally leaping ahead in the reading. I'm not upset and don't mean to upset anyone but hope we can all be on the same page.

Ann, me too! I'm neglecting some of my work but getting lost in a town of books with other book-lovers is too tempting to pass up. Is anyone else making a list of must-read books from Paul Collins quotes and remembrances? And Paradise is a library. Thanks for that book quote which has gone right into my collection of quotes.

I didn't know that Blackwood's lasted 180 years. That's an amazing feat. (I just learned from Marj's link to call it Maga.) Poe once made up a list of ideal authors for an American Blackwood's-type magazine he dreamed of operating, which didn't happen.

Oh yes, it's a common enough dream but it's interesting how Collins juxtaposes it with the disappointment he finds upon opening the door. I wonder if this is foreshadowing or not; or is there some other reason he linked these two images together? We'll probably find out in later chapters but there is definitely a reason for the linking.

Scawler Anne, oh yes the toppling stacks! I have stacks of books but they are neat and no toppling or crumbling is allowed.

GINNY once questioned the character of Richard Booth and it's this toppling, crumbling, dusty piles of books that make me question him also. Does he love books or is this something he got into as an eccentric business idea? Maybe we'll learn more as we read and discuss.

Afterthought: Do booksellers always have to love books? Not read every book they sell, that would be impossible -- but love books, reading what can be read, and love the nature of them and the feel and smell of books?

JOAN, what a wonderful story and scrumptious pictures. I'd say George Whitman is a bibliophile even if he only loves books because of their association with authors.

I don't think "trained monkeys" can buy books since a buyer must judge, with fair amount of accuracy, which books s/he can sell at a profit. Buying and selling go together; there's the trick of the business IMO. It's still early into the story, but if Booth were a book-lover, he certainly doesn't take care of the books in his shop.

I've always been intrigued by the idea of anarchy and how it plays out in history. According to my dictionary, anarchy of a state/society is:

If you substitute the word books for state, society, individual, groups, perhaps that comes closest to his intention although how can books cooperate? How can Paul organize the books into chaos?

I agree with your comments on National Health and one hopes we can see it coming our way soon.

Apparently Booth's "anarchistically" means that Paul Collins will be kept in the dark about the organization of the American section of books. Collins was setting up the books by region within the U.S., two shelves short of finishing his sorting, when Booth walks in and says no we must make a better image of America, set them up by ethnicity; and only the stuff that people want; box up the rest and we'll get rid of it.

Booth: "We've got a mess and it's my fault. I am an anarchist. But this building must turn a profit."

Booth burns books -- or tries to burn them -- and the soot falls over the town. Even if he loved books -- which I'm not seeing so far in this story -- he must feel overwhelmed by what he's got himself into.

I loved the part where Collins returns to the books he's been organizing by region and finds they've been rearranged with one stack of blue books by authors whose names begin with the letter B. Who knows, maybe it was Booth doing the tampering before he decided on ethnicity. Ahhhh, I think that is the example of anarchistically.

Paul Collins book of noble failures (his term) is titled Banvard's Folly a book I read while waiting for my turn to check out the public library's copy of Sixpence House. I'm floored by BF, as with the book in this discussion, and recommend it wholeheartedly. It's poignant, funny, inspirational, sad, sympathetic . . . everything to expect from Paul Collins. For fellow Poe fans, there's a marvelous tidbit about Poe in one of the stories.

Here is the cover art for BF. (Click on the left image for a larger version; in addition if you scroll down on this two image page there's a sublink of biographical information on Cellarius, the mapmaker):

Copyright by George Glazer.

It's a 1660 interpretation of the Ptolemac planetary chart, and the official title is Orbium Planetarum Terram Complectemtium Scenographica.

The chart displays the Ptolemac solar system in three dimensions, surrounded by blue sky with clouds filled with putti, some of them holding the cartouche and some holding drafting tools. Subsidiary hemispheres compare Tycho Brahe's to that of Ptolemy.

In the cover to BF the entire left half of the chart is depicted, but not the right half. I look at the cover now and remember with pleasure Collins' story of discovery. Apparently it's rare that an author is consulted about the cover, much less asked to find the cover art.

Scrawler Anne, did you have any say in the cover artwork to your book?

"they are us. ...Their hopes and rhetoric are recognizably our own....The friction bewteen their dreams, which are recognizably ours, and their means, which are so quaint, is what makes the Victorians sympathetic and yet also absurd. ...But we should not laught too hard: for soon enough, we shall all live there."

Wonderful links, Marj. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is one of those books I should read at least once although now it doesn't meet PC standards.

Horselover: I have the book written by the man with multiple sclerosis. It's The Journal of a Disappointed Man" by W.N.P. Barbellion which is finely written and doesn't dwell on his illness but on his life's ambitions. I find it uplifting because of how much the man was able to accomplish despite the odds and he led a full life, even married and had a child. It's one of those books I read each year. You'd have to read it to see what his disappointment was; although I think it's out-of-print and a used copy is difficult to find. I found a rather tattered one that was affordable.

Ginny, yes maybe we should start looking at the titles of the chapters. And Harriet mentions the dustjacket of Sixpence House and I'm wondering how it measures up to his category of books by their covers? Judging by the book so far, I still think it's serious with great splashes of humor. I'm going to re-read the section on dust jackets and decide what clue the DJ to Sixpence House gives us as to its nature.

Harriet, I suspect a lot of things are being implied (or else smoothed over) and I keep wondering if answers will come further on in the book. About Nan or instance, there could be a family rift between Paul and his mother, or her and his grandmother, or his mother might not be living or .... lots of possibilities.

I think his initial musings on books, homes and culture has something to do with looking for a place in the world and Nan is a part of that theme.

I believe Paul Collins did have a say in the cover of Sixpence House. While I haven't read ahead in the text I did look for an index or biblio at the back of the book and Collins mentions certain books that he used for study. Isaac D'Israeli's Curiosities of Literature is on the list and is also the middle book -- 4th from the left -- on the cover. D'Israeli (father of the PM) was a popular writer and his series of books on literature was quite popular although now out of print.

I particularly like this section of the book with its talk of book covers, and not being a car-owner or driver, and the juvenile book that disappeared.

Not having a car I laughed at the truth of this statement: "For Not-Car-Having People, the United States consists of New York, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago, and a series of transcontinental stops following the Amtrak and Greyhound routes between the aforementioned destinations; one mile to either side of these routes, the ground drops away beneath your feet into chasms of inaccessibility." (92)

HARRIET, we were posting at the same time. Hahaha, you think the writing's spontaneous and I think it's organized! Everyone here has such a strong reaction to the book which is so interesting to me - that we see different aspects in one tiny book.

______________________________

I believe I've found the pattern of this book - how it's put together - and consequently, how to read it. I was feeling 'lost in a town of books' and something was nagging at me so I went back and re-read pages 1 - 127. I took a day to re-read and think about it before I posted again.

I feel that with Sixpence House, one has to read a chapter as an integral whole from chapter title to the last word of the last sentence and then think about what the chapter is saying. I think this is the way to get at what's being said. Not saying I have answers but feel this is a reading key that would help a reader find meaning, although one reader's interpretation can be quite different from another's.

The chapter titles are important and it's all one -- books, houses, culture, people meaning the same and strung together -- it's all a meditation on life, the Human Condition and Paul's particular life?

I re-read Chapter Five and it was revealing and helped me with understanding Chapter Ten but another reader might find different chapters more revealing -- as Collins wrote, we hear an idea or word repeated again and again until one day we have that moment of discovery of what'd been around us, within our reach, all the time.

________________________________

How I see Chapter Ten -- not reading between the lines, but reading the lines and thinking about them and connecting one word to the next and the next until I can see the chapter as an organic whole:

Chapter Ten, Title: "Wishes Life Would Leave It Alone"

Collins starts by musing on the world and how the simple task of eating bread is affected by a truckers' strike due to high cost of petrol. And compares this to the U.S. where shelves overflow with stock and everyone had vehicles on the road and he and Jennifer were not-having-car-people in the U.S which fact creates social limits of its own. Along with comparisons of attitudes towards alcohol (Americans not satisfied with/without and British bemused by this).

Collins takes Morgan to the castle field with its outcast books and then to the isolated back portion.

They play amid thousands of books "great big dead bodies of books....Every bookstore in this town is toppling under the weight of cardboard boxes of books, all marked mysteriously TAPON - FRANCE." And when Morgan has tired them both out Collins puts him into the carriage and they go back home down the old cobblestone drive while a few clouds pass over the sun.

Okay, can we agree something is being said here? Especially when followed by the idea that we all like to spy on people's journals but adults have learned it's unseemly unless with publishe books; and then the remembrance of Barbellion's book The Journal of a Disappointed Man. Barbellion is a passionate young man dogged by illness. He writes:

This is the inspiration for the chapter title and we should consider that this is what the chapter is about. How is life not leaving Paul Collins alone? Or Morgan alone?

Collins muses about juvenilia, all the papers and scribblings now lost. "Who knows where juvenilia goes?" (96)

Ah, ok I see the links here between Morgan, young Barbellion and then Robert Spade's private journal and now teenager Collin's early lost writing. At 15 years old Collins writes a novel and turns it over his treasured work to a professional playwright for comments and doesn't get it back. "In retrospect, it's probably just as well. But I don't think I was quite so philosophical about it at the time." (98)

Why the title and what does this all mean?

The world didn't leave Collins alone when he wanted bread. It only leaves him and Morgan alone when they disppear behind the castle for temporary play yet when he wheels Morgan home in the carriage, the clouds pass over the sun. Barbellion and his passion for life and his illness which is the world that won't let him alone. And the juvenilia that is lost.

Is Collins meditating on the transitory nature of life whether of age, books, ambition, art, desire -- also meditating on his particular life and the challenges of the world in his life. THere are things I've found in re-reading that I'm not mentioning because I think each person needs to discover what the book is saying to them -- but I feel it's necessary to connect the dots between the words and anecdotes and title with a chapter in order to see the pattern. Chapters are a unified whole rather than anarchy.

I usually look at the dj blurb when I want to get a general idea of a book. Then I read a few pages to see if this is a book I want to buy. I prefer books with dust jackets or mylar wraps - protects books from finger smudges and such, useful if I'm having a guilty snack while reading. Some artwork on book covers are quite attractive and/or compelling.

I feel strongly that there is a clear theme to the book and mentioned it in earlier posts - his musings on books, houses and culture has something to do with looking for a place in the world for himself and his family. I also disagree about the lack of emotion. Collins has mastered the literary devices (metaphor being one) and he certainly follows the literary motto 'show, don't tell.'

Some of our theories about the book may change once we read more chapters. Right now I'm going to re-read the book once again up to page 127 and see if my current response to Sixpence holds or changes.

"I am prepared to pay you to organise eight bays in the Net House. (!!!!) Care should be taken in thinking of the physical, as well as electronic reality. (???) Both are calculated to stimulate the return visit and a permanent valuable e-mail list in as many specialties as possible." (!!!)

"Please be aware that your mail may take some time to be delivered."
"If we do not have the book you requested, you might not hear back from us."

Imagine a town where books topple over into the streets and are the commercial mainstay of a town. Richard Booth may or may not be a good businessman or book-lover but he's reinvigorated a town through his efforts. That's quite an amazing feat. He's inspired others by his example and I'd love to see the Texas Book Town.

Once nonfiction was seen as strictly a type of journalism - the who what why when where how of reportage. What you see on the surface of the story is what you get. And it's all that is offered. There's another type of nonfiction that offers the surface story and, underneath it a more complex story with enriched meanings, thoughts, and explication. That type of nonfiction is called 'Creative Nonfiction'.

'Creative Nonfiction' uses the strategies of literary fiction and poetry. Annie Dillard writes creative nonfiction as does Collins. Here's a list of literary techniques, not all-inclusive, but useful:

Some of the literary techniques that I see Collins using are

-- Allusion a reference to a person, place or thing or another work of literature. Allusion is used to summarize broad, complex ideas or actions in one quick powerful image.

-- Allegory a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. The main purpose of an allegory is to tell a story that has characters, setting, as well as other types of symbols, that have both literal and figurative meanings.

_______________________

There's another literary technique that Collins seems to be using and that's the Unreliable Narrator. From mapage.noos.fr:

The purpose of the unreliable narrator is to make the reader question and get more deeply involved in the text. Collins is an Unreliable Narrator because outwardly he's not revealing his thoughts or responses. There are occasional glimpses but not many (as when he shows his love for Morgan and Jennifer with words and/or action).

Marj said that 'something about Paul himself is difficult to grasp' and that's what I felt too. I had to go back and reread the early chapters to try to understand what was going on. That's when the pattern of creative nonfiction became clearer and I began to really look at the meanings embedded in the text.

HARRIET, this is interesting "I find that I get 'jolts of recognition' from passaages in his book and wind up writing my own associated ideas and memories. The stream of consciousness comes from ME, the organized writing comes from Collins."

I wonder if that store next to Booth's is still operating in Hay? Looking through the plate glass of the shop Collins sees a pared-down copy of a living room with easy chair, half-read newspaper, a couple of books and devoid of people or clutter. "...the sort of scene you get in old cartoons when half a building collapses, and the other half continues showering and going about its chores, unwittingly exposed to your sight." (119-20) I'd like to see that bookstore. Actually, I'd like to see them all.

"I find that I get 'jolts of recognition' from passages in his book and wind up writing my own associated ideas and memories. The stream of consciousness comes from ME, the organized writing comes from Collins"

Well, since Ann mentioned the distressing new book I'll add the information here that all of you, each of you being astute readers and researchers, would have figured out. The new book by Paul Collins is coming out April 2004 "Not Even Wrong" From amazon.com description:

"When Paul Collins's son Morgan was two years old, he could read, spell, and perform multiplication tables in his head .. but not answer to his own name. A casual conversation -- or any social interaction that the rest of us take for granted --will, for Morgan, always be a cryptogram that must be painstakingly decoded. He lives in a world of his own, an autistic world."

More from the amazon.com description of Paul Collins's newest book:

"In Not Even Wrong, Paul Collins melds a memoir of his son's autism with a journey into the realm of permanent outsiders. Examining forgotten geniuses and obscure medical archives, Collins's travels take him from an English churchyard to the Seattle labs of Microsoft, and from a Wisconsin prison cell block to the streets of Vienna. It is a story that reaches from a lonely clearing in the Black Forest into the London palace of King George 1, from Defoe and Swift to the discovery of evolution; from the modern dawn of the computer revolution to, in the end, the author's own household."

"Not Even Wrong is a haunting journey into the borderlands of neurology -- a meditation of what 'normal' is, and how human genius comes to us in strange and wondrous forms."

Chapter Six in Sixpence House, "Vegetates in Front of the Telly", is where I was startled into thinking 'what is going on, he's not telling us direcly, but something is happening.'

_________________________

Collins mentions that the British gameshow Countdown could advertize itself thus:

________________________

Now Paul is an unemployed grad student, Jennifer the overeducated homemaker (art school), but who is the retired bank clerk and who's autistic? Then I got to Chapter Ten "Wishes Life Would Leave It Alone" and Barbara's musings on there not being any interaction between Paul and Morgan. I reread the chapter and had the 'Aha!' moment. I went back and reread pages 1-127 and noted then how the allusions tied into his life and trying to find a place in the world for himself and family. It was at this point that I researched and found the information of the upcoming book Not Even Wrong. The Barbellion quote, when relating it to the Collins' situation, is heartbreaking.

Yet there's humor with the heartbreak and I find that extremely healthy and uplifting. There's humor on every page. I wouldn't have posted this for fear of ruining the opportunity for each of you to discover it yourselves through Collins' continued use of allusions and allegory etc. His literary technique is subtle and doesn't pertain only to one subject but can be applied to many different ones: finding a place in the world, outsiders, writing, mortality/mortality.....And there's humor on every page.

One question we could consider is why did Paul Collins' present himself as an Unreliable Narrator who kept certain things to himself and instead embedded them in the text? What was his purpose in doing this?

ANN, before you posted the news about the 'distressing' new book, I'd already figured out the allusions to his family situation. While the cat was out of the bag regarding Morgan there are other subjects in Sixpence predominated by his love of books.

Only after I'd figured out the pattern -- as I noted in post 204 -- only then did I research for 'Paul Collins autism' and 'Paul Collins autistic'. I referred to my discovery in a roundabout way earlier (re my much earlier post on Chapters 6 and 11 and the pattern of the book.) I even posted a link of Literary Terms and mentioned some of the techniques I'd noticed.

It's easy enough to understand literary techniques once you're used to them, and acknowledging that these techniques exist, and then looking to see if the author uses them or not. Literary authors use them quite frequently. Other books I read, such as mysteries, use them only infrequently.

Barbara, that's so beautifully expressed: "Paul Collins speaking in this book to things not settled and the almost barely touch and go with life, as if Paul jumps from one thing to another in quick time like someone who is not wanting to touch yet and invest in a shock that requires so much."

I'm interested in any book by Paul Collins including Not Even Wrong but amazon.com shows Collins mentioning signs before age three. Since Sixpence is a memoir it is difficult to see where suspicion or clues become knowledge but I'd think his next book will show that. In any case this knowledge is embedded in the text of Sixpence.

Barbara, you are a poet. If no one has said this to you before then I will, 'you are a poet.' (Although I can't imagine it not being said to you by others.) I always look forward to your poems when you post. You write prose like a poet and think like a poet too. Yes, I believe that once we understand some of the allusions then the whole book reverbrates with meanings that are complex and difficult to express but easy to feel down to our bones.

Hello, Gus, and Welcome!

I just now read the next section that we begin discussing tomorrow. We're almost halfway through the book already!

I like that Harriet -- we lost and gained. It was all there in the pattern of the text waiting to be found by readers. What was Paul Collins quote about the word or idea that's repeated until one day we "discover" it? I think that's what he's been doing in his work and we all seemed to have puzzled over some of the same sections.

Like Harriet, I hadn't read the interview in the heading link either but just finished it now and it does hint at what the next book is about. Paul mentions his choice in writing style for a memoir as opposed to a scholarly paper. And did you all see? In the last section of the interview Paul talks about another book idea? He says "it is basically about me trying to find someone's skull. Sort of like Roger and Me? but if Roger were dead." From having read Banvard's Folly -- which doesn't jump around from one idea or quote to another -- and now reading Sixpence, I know I want to read this book and Not Even Wrong.

JOAN, my impression was that Morgan was silent when Paul carried him away from his visit with Nan; he was silent but his head bobbed 'bye bye bye bye' -- at least that's how I see it because, so far into this book, Morgan hasn't spoken.

HARRIET says "...as we tried to figure out our author and his relationships, I began to develop an affection for that toddler. Did that happen to any of you?" Yes, and I wonder if that's one of the reasons that Paul didn't directly say anything to the reader; why he let his literary techniques gradually add up to illumination. I think Paul wanted us to see Morgan as a child who tap-danced on metal and yoddled and played -- to become emotionally attached to a child -- not to see a label but to see the child.

We can't forget though that there is humor on every page and that's healthy. We're seeing a beautiful family coping with grace and humor to what Life's dealt them.

__________________________

ON BOOKSTORES:

I love old bookstores and can understand the draw to Paul Collins of a place like Richard Booth's. Many years ago, when the universe was young, I worked at a bookstore in Southern California called Acres of Books. And it was acres.... it was a long-established store, all on one level, but it kept adding on to its space and there were all these warrens and little closets -- one I remember was the Napoleon Room with everything Napoleonic and how I wish I'd bought up those books that were stacked to the ceiling. If a book was priced at 20 cents in 1930, that was the price you paid when you found it on their shelves in 1960. The prices didn't change.

The store had signs posted as if it were a city and these were street signs with names and arrows and all color-coded. Blue "Hist Am", Orange "Fic L-P" would be tacked up on the front of bookcases. The cement floor was also a colorful canvas of direction in words and lines -- follow the color line of one's choice to the desired section. The painted lines also helped in not getting lost, like Theseus' string, because all you could see as you entered deeper into the store were bookcases and more bookcases. When you finally emerged from the stacks, the front counter would provide you with hand-wipes and either bags or cartons for your books. I spent almost as much money on books there as I earned. Writers from Hollywood used to frequent the store, including Ray Bradbury. Unfortunately, after the death of the owners a small chain bought it and it became like the Cinema Bookstore. No great bargains and no delicious hours spent in the stacks locating surprises, or having the surprises locate you.

There have been 3 bookstores like that in my life. This one in California and two in Michigan. I like new bookstores too if they offer a place to sit so I can look through the newest arrivals to see if there are books that I HAVE to have; but I'm happiest in the used bookstores.

Here's a formula I found for getting rid of smells in old books. Cigarette and cigar smoke are the worst IMO.

AROMATHERAPY BOOKBOX

After cleaning an old book, to get rid of old book smells place it in an Aromatherapy Bookbox that you make yourself. The box should be clean and tall enough so that book(s) can stand upright. It can be a sturdy cardboard box, plastic storage box, a covered plastic garbage pail, a large suitcase, or a drawer in a file cabinet -- anything that's sturdy and closes tightly. I like plastic containers because they last and can be washed out from time to time with baking soda and water.

Add your aromatherapy-of-choice to the box of book(s), such as a bowl of baking soda or charcoal (both great absorbers) or solid room air fresheners.   Keep books in the box until they smell fresh which usually means 24 hours for the air fresheners or longer for baking soda or charcoal.

Maybe Morgan was saying goodbye to Nan after all, BaBi. I don't know now. I originally thought that since it wasn't in quotes in the book it wasn't being spoken but Morgan definitely says the sound of sheep, "Baa".

The long distance view of sheep from the apartment window is quaint but when Paul sees the sheep up close he notices a head wound and cringes. My head's swirling with these images and so much contemplation of mortality which Collins seems to shore up with books, 'the cellar of civilization'.

ANNA, you're having nightmares about the book? "... in the beginning the houses were interesting and charming but in my dream they started to come apart."

Maybe the sheep and houses are saying the same thing but where does the People's Peer fit in? I think it's a lifetime title but what do they do at the House of Lords?

(I wouldn't let anyone throw anything at a cat - Marvelle)

Thanks, Horselover. I haven't a clue as to the politics or rule in Britain and that info helps a lot. I bet a lot of sleeping goes on in the U.S. Congress too, one way or the other.

I love the humor in this book and what Horselover quoted about characters taking over a book and Collins says that "This makes writing sound supernatural and mysterious, like possession by the fairies. The reality tends to involve a spare room, a pirated copy of MS Word, and a table bought on sale at Target." (139)

Oh listen, listen I'm so excited but feel stupid at the same time. Acres of Books may still be in operation! When I returned from years spent working overseas I'd heard that the owners of Acres had died and, not being in California, I searched online and couldn't find anything except another book store. But that bookstore is at a slightly different address, a couple of doors down in fact, and I didn't notice. (This was my 'stupid' part; not being more thorough.)

Acres of Books may be active. I've found a website -- I'm better at my searches since I first tried the web -- and I've emailed them & am anxiously waiting for a reply. I can't tell you how this makes me feel, thinking that there's still an Acres of Book. I'd love to rummage through the store's shelves once more. I'll let you know if/when I get a response because this store is an experience everyone should have. Here's what I found:

I offhandily decided to search for Acres while I was looking for a site on the Renaissance Books, the shop that Collins describes as "a creaky old warehouse in Milwaukee; this store may be the closest thing the United States has to Booth's ..." (140) And Collins encounters at Renaissance "a sullen clerk (who) by his countenance, I seem to have caught ... halfway into sucking through a bagful of lemons." (140-141)

I couldn't find a Renaissance website but here's a news article on the store with a telephone number. (Caution: this may be a quirk in my webtv hookup but when I printed out this short article, the link shows up as 10 pages yet the first 8 pages and most of the 9th page were blank. The article is actually on the last page.)

Maybe someone else can find better information on Renaissance. My webtv is slow and I finally gave up trying to find a website for them.

Babi says that it helps to read the chapter number and the words immediately following as one piece, as in 'Chapter Fourteen Is Awfully Late to Be Introducing the Title Setting'. That technique of chapter heading was frequently employed in 19th century books in order to explain what the contents of the chapter contained. Twentieth century reprints of those books oftentimes left the chapter heading out as being too old-fashioned and unnecessary.

The chapter heading is like a legend explaining the signs of a map. The legend (aka the key) is placed at the top, side, or bottom of a map and can include a compass to provide direction, symbols explained such as for hospitals or parks and so forth:

I thought of the map analogy because we don't have a legend to the map of Hay on the endpapers of the book. I'm also thinking that there is a dialogue going on between author and someone else -- reader, editor, self(?) -- in those chapter legends. There is more to this I feel but I'm not sure what that 'more' is.

It was an electrical switch down there in the wet-floored basement, maybe the switch is for lights -- but it was ungrounded which is the important thing since, when Paul went back upstairs, after refusing to touch the switch, Jennifer tells him 'your feet are wet' and he says 'I know.'

Thank you for your enquiry for 'First in Peace' but we regret we do not have this title in our current stock. However, we will keep your details on file and let you know if it becomes available.
Regards
Booth Books

"Richard is currently away in Tunisia until early December but of course I will pass this to him on his return. 
 

He is a confirmed bibliophile and a passionate believer in local communities and rural regeneration. I don't think he could ever be described as a businessman! He has co-written his autobiography with his stepdaughter - 'My Kingdom of Books', which is extremely informative about his extraordinary life and very funny!

 
 Paul Collins xxxxx, and, no, the mountains of books are still here in there thousands in every corner of every available space, waiting to be sorted, priced and shelved!  Richard has a greater passion for buying than for selling.  He loves to talk about his work and life, so if you ever want to correspond or talk to him to find out more I'm sure he will be happy to do so.
 
Regards
 
Anna Cooper
 
Richard Booth's secretary

Horselover, I think the anecdotes are related and they revolve around the Human Condition of 'how am I to live my life,' where is my place in the world? For whatever reason -- and I still find Paul's family background vague -- Paul wants a new start in Britain, the birthplace of his parents and brother. Although he travels on a British passport, when pressed as to his nationality he admits to being American. He constantly compares British and American cultures perhaps to find out if he can fit in somewhere. There's an obsession, common among writers, with mortality/immortality -- 'my work is my ticket to immortality (I hope prays the writer)' type of thinking.

Paul compares the British living with ruins, adapting themselves to ruins with a certain nostalgia, while Americans without that history are initially sentimental about 'ruins' but then think of comfort -- 'a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there -- and would prefer to tear down and rebuild. Americans don't live with or within ruins; ruins are a kind of decay and death.

In this book there are running motifs regarding books and their writing and publishing, age, beauty, decay, death, culture.

___________________________

For instance in Chapter 16 Can't Think of a Good Title starts with

1 -- CULTURE AND LORDS (a title), slips into the different Postal practices of America and Britain as the Lord's application comes in the mail and the British trial of a postman who refused to take off his hat in front of a title (Magistrate) -- all cultural about Class -- and the meditation on 'Modernizing the House of Lords' is quintessional Class.

2 -- THAT SLIPS INTO THE SUBJECT OF BOOK TITLES which can't be too familiar, too obscure, too flippant, too quirky, too clever, commercial suicide (Profiles in Discourage -- a type of Class outrage against John Kennedy), no reference to losing, too descriptive. He even mentions how titles could be acceptable in Europe but not in America.

3 -- Then SIXPENCE HOUSE house is mentioned -- waiting for the survey on this very British titled house -- and the British want to buy their OWN apples not foreign ones. (Again linking titles of Lord, books, nationalism together and then following with another sort of cultural title regarding children)

4 -- CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN RAISING CHILDREN, where parents give unpleasant 'titles' to their child: Paul witnesses some rough words spoken by mother to child and he says "My heart sinks; as it has repeatedly this week." He gives examples that caused this sadness in him.(183) I can picture his worry about Morgan, what he might be called/titled and how Morgan would fare.

5 -- FOLLOWED BY CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN MEDICAL TREATMENT: Morgan is injured and first Paul is offered homeopathic medicine (another title in which he differentiates that from the medicine of doctors with stethoscopes and metal furniture). The doctor treats Morgan and apologizes for the fee which is actually much less than what Paul expected. But the chapter ends with more titling (national) as the doctor asks Paul and Jennifer "Is it different in your country?" and Paul says "Yes, it's different in our country?" Again, Paul is identified as American and accepts that identity.

In these chapters we've seen a gradual erosion in the Collins's attempt -- Paul's wish -- to become British. The title referred to in Chapter Sixteen can be taken literally as the book Banvard's Folly but I believe it's also about this book we're reading, about home and identity and finding own's place and more. The reference to Jennifer's jigsaw puzzle and needlework are hints IMO that we should piece together the various anecdotes of the book in order to reveal the design.

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I enjoyed reading the link BARBARA provided on therhyming ditty "Sing a Song of Sixpence" That's the song that came to my mind from the book's title before I started to read. So, it was a coded message for the pirates? Or "corsairs, privateers whose activities were sanctioned by letters of marque from a soverign" (class and title too). Rather like Sixpence House itself is a coded message. The link explains the lines

refers to the custom in the sixteenth (!) century to conceal all sorts of surprises in a pie.

I don't think we've fully opened this pie called Sixpence House, don't know that it's possible, but we're seeing some of the surprises. I enjoy the challenge.

An afterthought about Chapter 16 Can't Think of a Good Title: of course by using the chapter heading as the legend or key to the chapter I can see that Paul is feeling the push/pull of his need for home; for choosing home and for choosing an identity and way of life. Chapter headings IMO are the guide to understanding the meaning of the contents of that chapter.

When Paul's "heart sinks" again and again over the past week over the sight of the parental-child tension, could he he be worried not only about the outside community's impact on Morgan but how it might impact his own behavior towards his son. Paul remembers the time he was put on a leash as a child; could he be worrying that he'd be influenced by a community if he adopted it, to do the same to his own child? Wondering if Paul is feeling the push/pull of cultures in regards to childrearing.

A question that I've been wondering about: Why would Paul Collins have been on a leash as a child? Any repercussions from this?

Except that Collins' "heart sinks" at the sight of a child on a leash and he remembers that he was on a leash as a child, I'd say it wasn't important also. As a child my older sister had a leash because she was easily distracted, tended to dart around and get lost, not answering when my parents called, and they worried about her safety. I don't see that practice anymore in America.

GINNY, yes it is stream of consciousness but controlled. He would edit and revise and edit again, add in references that, as a literary person, he thought pertinent to the theme(s). It isn't a hiding from emotion though but a way to express what is difficult to convey, especially on the printed page, without seeming falsely sentimental. He avoids the 'telling' and instead expresses himself with 'showing.'

According to my link of literary terms -- allusions are often used to summarize broad, complex ideas or emotions in one, quick powerful image.

I'd point out too that the endpapers of the book are an old map of Hay without the legend and would be difficult to use as a direction-guide. Part of Paul's idea of the past and being too late. The book is named Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books and books are Paul's touchstone. He uses this image as an extended metaphor to encompass culture, civilization, home, family, writing, publishing, knowledge -- this is his reality. A house too is quite extensively used to symbolize the mind (windows are eyes, door is mouth). That could mean Paul is lost in his own thoughts as well as the literal surface plot of searching for a home and not yet finding one.

Since I looked closely at **Chapter Sixteen Can't Think of a Good Title**, I'll go back to that briefly to explore the sense of being lost as part of the book's title. First Paul thinks about being a Lord (English title), he wanders about in his mind from one title to another (Lord, Magistrates v Postman, books, etc to parent-child) -- from Lord he wanders until he ends up somewhat lost, not where he started from but to his title of American.

The strictly literal meaning of the chapter's title and the surface plot is that Paul can't think of a title for his forthcoming book, the one that eventually is called Banvard's Folly. But Paul loads up one type of title onto another and another until we see it's a search for his place in the world -- going from English Lord -- pausing at all Title-stops inbetween -- to the title of American; this is the mental wandering but Paul seems to be idenifying more and more as an American in Hay. Don't know if this makes sense to anyone. By the end of **Chapter Eighteen Arrives at the Wrong Time** -- another case of wandering and being lost and then arriving late for a reading -- Paul says "... like every generation who comes to this shore, I feel an unfathomable regret that I have arrived one era too late."

(I've tried to write a post and will try once again. Maybe this time it'll work.)

A relative visited me when I was living in another country, without the use of car or television, and said in a stunned voice "How can you live?!"

Other countries can accommodate life without private vehicles. The U.S. is a society of Class, designated by the dollar sign. One of the symbols of that dollar sign is the car. I'm a Not-Having-Car Person, not because I choose to live sans car, but because I can't buy and keep a car however modest it is. I would have an easier life with a car, less stressful and safer and time efficient -- if I could afford one. Since I can't, I ruthlessly edit my life around that fact. Where you live and work and shop are all controlled by not having a car and that's a major restriction in the U.S., unlike many other countries. One must move to a place with public transportation even if that place isn't pleasing or safe or attractive. I might wish with all my heart to visit a sick relative some distance from me but I don't have the means to travel there. That isn't an option.

America will retain it's Class system but I hope that one day public transportation will be improved; that bus, trains, planes will reach more places in our nation (in the country, historic sites, cities and within cities) and travel will be less expensive and accessible to the poor and to the physically challenged. If the U.S. can spend money building more and more highways, and rebuilding them, surely a way can be found to provide convenient public transportation across the nation.

__________________________

As an added thought, and before I get kicked off the internet again (the connection has been so bad today and last night!)

-- I believe that Paul Collins, as a classicist and fiction writer, would be surprised if readers didn't see symbols, metaphors, and other literary devices in his book. There are at least two levels on which to read a literary work - the surface plot and the literary threads which expand the meaning. These levels together form a unified whole. Yes, there are some fine books that don't rely on extensive use of literary devices -- such as Christina Schwarz' "All Is Vanity" -- but Collins' book isn't one of them. If someone wishes to read this book for the literary threads, that's valid; as is someone's reading the surface plot. I think we're doing a great job in Sixpence with our various interpretations and complementary ways of reading. I'm getting a lot out of this discussion.

GINNY, those trains look like spaceships. What an incredible system the English have.

I live in a western urban area. The conveniences in NYC, and the reach of city living, don't translate to where I live. San Francisco, on the other hand, offers a lot to city dwellers and the transportation system is wonderful but unfortunately the housing costs are through the roof.

Oh yes, Marj, there are always choices. I think having limits is excellent for creative solutions and I apologize if I implied otherwise. Still I'd wish for a modest little car which would make living safer and time efficient -- but then again with a modest little car I'd tempted to drive to Acres of Books in California and stop at the bookstores inbetween, loading up the car's trunk with books! Just as well that I'm not mobile, eh?

Interesting thought, Barbara, that Paul is making judgments. I thought he was comparing cultures as he looks for a place for himself and his family, now I see I could be wrong. Up to now I've seen Paul as wondering if he'd fit into this culture and was he British like his parents or American by birth; wondering which traits he carries? Maybe the last section of the book make things clearer for me.

Horselover, I felt distrubed and saddened too by the treatment of children in Hay. It brought up the mental image of Paul and Morgan playing together behind the castle, and that image compared to the later chapter saddened me even more. It's one of the few times that Paul mentions feelings - "my heart sinks" - which I believe says a lot about the depth of his feeling at that point.

(Do you think the theme(s) or philosophy of Solitude and Sixpence are similar or quite different? Or is too early into Solitude?)

I wondered too, Horselover, about what is fiction and what is fact in Sixpence. Certainly its creative nonfiction, using the techniques of fiction to write a 'true' story. I'd be disappointed, feeling tricked and deceived, if the surface plot wasn't true. I want the Collins' to have gone to Hay looking for a home and I believe that actually happened.

A writer feels comfy in her/his personal library, or visiting another's library, yet be isolated in a crowd. Yet there's still that yearning in many writers to also find a physical place-home. Paul is looking for one for himself and his family. I think it's a mistake to immerse oneself even deeper into books by living in a town of books if there's no sense of community or history. A nice place to visit but ....

Heideggar defined dwelling as the multiple "lived relationships" that people maintain with places because it is in this way that geographical space acquires meaning -- a sense of place, or finding one's place in the world. I can see how Paul, writer-historian, would be compelled to find a place that had meaning for him but did he really accomplish that by writing Sixpence House? So far he knows what isn't his place (Hay).

Keith Basso in Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language in the Western Apache describes place-making as "a retrospective world-building" through reflection and creation of stories. Anyone, not just Native Americans, can be a place-maker who has the inclination and who reflects on and responds to "what happened here? who was involved? what was it like? why should it matter?"

Native Americans developed this sense of place - of belonging, of community - through place-making, of telling stories of the past that lie embedded in canyons, lakes, mountains. Setting down roots is a frequently used expression but what does it mean if not establishing a relationship with place? I think that's partly the aim of Sixpence House through reflection and stories but it means a certain commitment to place. Paul is restless and none of the houses he's looked at suited him and we have, as his counterpart, Richard Booth who made Hay his home.

________________________

One of the things I've been enjoying throughout the book is the how-to of writing and publishing from the beginnings, and how to choose a book cover, titles, setting, planning and rewriting, and the various aspects of publishing including bookbinding.

Paul keeps contemplating his mortality/immortality -- another undeniable aspect of writers. About working at Booth's: "Look at all these dead shelves. For every book you recognize there are twenty that you don't. . . . For a writer with a book coming to press, to work here -- why? It is like a pregnant woman taking a job at the morgue. You stare oblivion in the face every day in a store like this." (123)

Which means I think that a town of books would make a writer feel lost.

"In the future, I want you to remember that you're not British. You're American."

"Yes," I said. "I am an American."

She hands my passport back to me.

"Don't ever try to be British again."

I stuff the incriminating document into my pocket.

"Don't worry," I promise. "I won't."

Just read the last part of the book and will need to think about it some more.

Paul Collins is currently living in PORTLAND, OREGON. The Collins' may have returned to San Francisco as their last homebase and from there migrated north. Of course, Portland is a great place for Not-Having-Car People and is home to Powell's Bookstore.

I checked out news articles and found references to his new residence in The Portland Mercury, (Jan 3, 2002 "Colins...recently moved to Portland); The Stranger, as well as The Seattle Times (May 21, 2003 "Portland author Paul Collins") and an article Collins wrote for Cabinet Magazine in Spring 2002 which in the author's credits states "Paul Collins lives in Portland OR...." He continues to contribute to McSweeney's and is the editor of those wonderful out-of-print books.

No, I don't think he moves around in order to get fodder for his work especially since Sixpence is his first to talk about finding a place. He's moved so many times and over so many years before that. Moving for a Not-Having-Car Person is very taxing, expecially if you're a book collector. He's still looking for home and I hope he's found it in Portland.

This is definitely nonfiction. Creative nonfiction means that one uses the literary devices of fiction such as metaphors, allusions, allegory, and so forth. An autobiography, biography, and memoir, whether using literary techniques or not, often disguise certain people in the book and rearrange events but they're still fact as opposed to fiction.

I don't quite understand Ruby Wax's humor but she's certainly brassy and loud. The above picture is taken with Joanna Lumley, one of the comics of the AbFab series. Wax has starred in a number of comedy shows, one in which she played an aggressive reporter breaking into star's homes to interview them.

(Click on any of the pictures to englarge.)

I wonder what American audiences would think of her caricature of an American women. I was turned off when reading about one staged comic(?) interview with O.J. Simpson after the murder of his estranged wife. During the interview O.J. stabs Ruby Wax with a banana -- did the English audience really laugh at that? I'll pass on her comedy act.

Here are some pictures of Hay-on-Wye and I apologize in advance if some were previously posted:

The railing in foreground marks the end of the castle lawn. The far side of the stone wall are indoor bookstores including Booth's. The Honesty Bookshop, open 24 hours a day!, is the open field where one pays for a book by dropping 30p - 50p into a box by the gate.

I've printed out the posts over the last two days and hope to read them over while at work tomorrow; so many good points were made.

MY readers will get it, STET (page 225)

Page 229: "The most important thing to do before we leave, I decide, is to stock up on candy over at HR Grant & Son…"

Yum! Ginny, you've made me crave some sweets. Love the wrapper.

Okay, now STET is an editing/proofreading term, used to rescue a deletion. According to the chapter heading and comments, there were a lot of deletions that were rescued. One rescued reference (allusion) was the following that GINNY quoted from page 202 of Sixpence:

I'm a Morley fan; he's such a graceful writer. The quote is about night and of those who sit home alone imagining life being lived by others. John Mistletoe was semi-autobiographical in which Morley recounted spending his life in libraries with his nose in a book. The Morley quote is about night and those who sit home alone imagining the life being lived by others.

So is Paul Collins is tweaking us? Is he giving us a message here that he's learned?

HARRIET, it is an interesting idea that Horselover brought up. Could Paul be relocating in order to write books about it? Well, he didn't write about his relocations before. Part of creative nonfiction is the availability of literary devices - allusion, metaphor, structuring events to fit the plan of the work, selection of characters - and I see Paul doing all of that and more.

What I'm saying is that he could have learned something in life - the turning point seeming to be when he met Jennifer - and needed to surround it with a narrative structure. I still believe that Paul, Jennifer, and Morgan went to Hay and they did househunt, albeit half-heartedly. Paul may be struggling in the book with the dreaming of life through books (re the semi-autobiographical Morley quote) versus reflecting on what books mean and then actually living a life and finding a place in the world. The trip to Hay could be the final step for him, the affirmation of something he'd already perceived and, through the book, he's having us experience that conflict he felt.

GINNY had an interesting idea too about the post hoc ergo propter hoc reasoning in the later section of Sixpence. The post hoc ...[after this therefore because of this) fallacy is the mistaken notion that simply because one thing happens after another, the first event was a cause of the second event - because A happened followed by B, then A must have been the cause of B; which is faulty reasoning. I'm wondering what GINNY was thinking of regarding this?

There's so much to consider about this book and so little time left in the discussion. I'll reread this book following the discussion and a second read will make certain things clearer as will subsequent reads. This is a book that can hold up to many readings.

Understanding allusions, ie references, is a key to understanding Sixpence or any literary work. Paul Collins saves us a lot of work by generally citing author and title, often an author depends on a shared knowledge and memory of the works to which he alludes. Often an allusion requires additional effort on the reader's part, this working out the puzzle of the allusion is something I enjoy because I get a better understanding of the original source as well as the current read - like a gift which I unwrap from its shiny paper and ribbon and find within that gift another to unwrap and enjoy. The key to understanding allusion is a three step process:

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Use of Allusions: Native Americans, and most cultures have the same traditions, use retrospective world-building (allusions) which links them to their surroundings. Its something we all can do. To wonder what happened in a particular place, who was involved, what was it like, and why should it matter. Paul's been giving us that through his references and his story. Here's how a Native American thinks about stories:

"I think of that mountain called Tsee Ligai Dah Sidile (White Rocks Lie Above In A Compact Cluster) as if it were my maternal grandmother. I recall stories of how it once was at that mountain. The stories told to me were like arrows. Elsewhere, hearing that mountain's name, I see it. Its name is like a picture. Stories go to work on you like arrows. Stories make you live right. Stories make you replace yourself." -- Benson Lewis, Western Apache, quoted in Keith H. Basso's Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache

Native Americans are among the most sophisticated users of literary devices which had its start in oral storytelling.

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What I'm feeling is that Paul Collins is reflecting on life in this chapters and its enhanced through allusions and other literary devices. I believe that his stories are arrows, like Boyd's Recreations of a Country Parson which Collins references on pages 226-8 in Chapter Nineteen stet stet stet stet stet stet stet ....

Some of the chapter titles in Recreations of a Country Parson are: Concerning the Country Parson's Life; Concerning the Art of Putting Things; Concerning Two Blisters of Humanity: Petty Malignity and Petty Trickery; Concerning Country Houses and Country Life; Concerning the Moral Influences of the Dwelling; Concerning the Parson's Choice Between Town and Country; Concerning Disappointment and Success; Concerning Giving Up and Coming Down; Concerning Growing Old; Concerning Churchyards; Concerning the Worries of Life. From Sixpence -

"[Boyd's] book consists of what amount to pleasant musings upon the home, upon books, upon city and country life. They are sermons in disguise, really . . . I am unaccountably fond of Boyd's little book . . . . We shall not see its mild-mannered like again. If anyone did publish it today, I suppose it would wind up on the remainder table." (227-

I think Sixpence is structured around the idea of Boyd's book, but is intentionally not as mild mannered in order to avoid the dreaded death of remaindering.

Babi, we posted about the same time. Yes the cost of dream castles can be too high. Dream versus Reality. I felt a personal resistance to Paul, against him, in the middle part of the book but then he won me over on his reflection of parent-child relationships and his emotional outburst "my heart sinks". That seemed to be the climax, the point at which reality seeps into his dream and when (unsaid though it is) we know that he isn't staying in Hay. He showed caring for Diana and for Richard Booth too in this last part of the book.

The above quote is from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, The Clerk. Here is the complete section on the Clerk, in modern English,:

A clerk from Oxford was with us also,
Who'd turned to getting knowledge, long ago,
As meagre was his horse as is a rake,
Nor he himself too fat, I'll undertake,
But he looked hollow and went soberly.
Right threadbare was his overcoat; for he
Had got him yet no churchly benefice,
Nor was so worldly as to gain office.

For he would rather have at his bed's head
Some twenty books, all clad in black and red,

Of Aristotle and his philosophy
Than rich robes, fiddle, or gay psaltery.
Yet, and for all he was philosopher,
He had but little gold within his coffer;
But all that he might borrow from a friend
On books and learning he would swiftly spend,
And then he'd pray right busily for the souls
Of those who gave him wherewithal for schools.
Of study took he utmost care and heed.
Not one word spoke he more than was his need;
And that was said in fullest reverence
And short and quick and full of high good sense.
Pregnant of moral virtue was his speech;
And gladly would he learn and gladly teach.

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Many of the early printed books imitated the rare manuscript books with their black and red lettering while still being more cheaply available. That's what I think the Clerk is doing, another inspiration for Pearson's title.

Pearson's Books in Black or Red was written expressly for the average book-lover who can't buy expensive rarities but, according to Pearson, "like to acquire books at seventy-five cents or a dollar or three."

GINNY, had to include the above 'illuminated' quote for your benefit. It's helped me see the chapter better to have your outline. The entire Sixpence House has been about writing and a desire for immortality? I'm wondering if Chapter Nineteen is Paul's conflict with editing his draft and deciding whether to write a saleable book (all that advertising!) or writing true to himself. Each chapter title descrbes the theme of that particular title; what it's about. Chapter Nineteen stet stet stet.... does that mean he chose not to write for sales alone?

When Paul reaches the remainder bookstore, Bookends, he is confronted with a book's murder - there is Motherless Brooklyn, remaindered in Hay! This is the turning point of the conflict/chapter. From seque 13 the encounter with a remaindered American book, are the segues about British accents and how Americans are perceived (Ginny, I have a previous post on Ruby Wax) and from there is the soulful meditation on the Recreations of a Country Parson and how it would likely be remaindered today (I think Paul is identifying his book with the Country Parson).

Thomas De Quincey's take on writing is much like Paul's writing in this book. De Quincey lists 2 types of rhetoric; this one being how DQ wrote "to hang upon one's own thoughts as an object of conscious interest, to play with them, to watch and pursue them through a maze of inversions, evolutions and harlequin changes."

De Quincey also said in his essay Charles Lamb: "Eloquence resides not in separate or fractional ideas, but in the relation of manifold ideas, and in the mode of their evolution from each other. It is not enough that the ideas should be many, and their relation coherent; the main condition lies in the key of the evolution, in the law of succession."

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I'm glad Ginny that you brought up Motherless Brooklyn a much-acclaimed, highly-touted 1999 novel by Jonathan Lethem which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Following release of this book, Lethem was placed on Newsweek's list of "100 Americans for the Next Century." (Lethem's latest is the 2003 The Fortress of Solitude which reviewers are saying is his best novel to date.)

Motherless Brooklyn is a murder mystery and the hero is a young detective with Tourette's syndrome. Usually Tourette's is displayed in subverbal tics but Lionel, the hero in Motherless Brooklyn, is compeled to tap people's shoulders, to number his actions, to mimic others' movements, outbursts, to constantly play with words.

Lionel tries to control his Tourette's which leads him into a lot of meditation and self-reflection. I can see a connection to Lionel and Paul Collins' book and the comment Lethem makes about the writer's condition.

Now Motherless Brooklyn was heavily-promoted, got great reviews in America, the author highly acclaimed -- yet it's remaindered. A bookseller can buy books from the publisher and, even if he sells them at a discount, the author gets his/her regular percentage (usually 10%). That's different from being remaindered. If a book stops selling at a certain rate, determined by the publisher, then its cleared out of the publisher's warehouse and sold/remaindered for whatever price they can get and the price is usually so low that the author doesn't get anything.

Even a book that should sell out, that had everything going for it, has ended up remaindered in Hay. Paul is frightened that he's seeing his own, his book's, mortality. Perhaps seeing it in Hay (there is that difference between the U.S. and the U.K. that runs through this chapter and the whole book). Yet he decides to stet stet stet stet ...

Harriet, that's a beautiful description of how Paul Collins writes in Sixpence and a reader's reaction. Its the classic style of philosophers to not baldly state a conclusion, but rather show the meandering, flowing, backtracking, thought process of the philosopher towards reaching a conclusion. I read Banvard's Folly while waiting for my copy of Sixpence and BF isn't meandering, ie philosophical. It's a history of 13 people with one chapter for each person. I love BF but also love Sixpence, two different kinds of books and writing styles.

___________________________

I should note that my previous post was a response to Ginny's. I printed out her post and then laboriously prepared my reaction. Now I see that Ginny pulled a Marvelle in that, while I was posting, she edited and corrected and deleted her breakdown of the segues in Chapter Nineteen. (Just like me, Ginny!)

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DE QUINCEY

In 'Chapter Eight Is Thinking About It', Collins makes a reference (allusion) as follows:

So what is the allusion, De Quincey's essay, about; what is its context?

On the surface it is an exploration of the fascination of the public including himself, with murder. De Quincey (DQ) is fascinated yet repelled by the fact of his fascination and its these conflicted feelings which are exhibited with irony and where moral issues are reversed. "For, if once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing, and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. Once begin upon this downward path, you never know where you are to stop. Many a man has dated his ruin from some murder or other that he thought little of at the time." (De Quincey)

DQ's essay debunks Kantian disinteredness by pretending to espouse the distanced, aesthetic principles of artful murder, but in reality eliciting compassion and terror in his readers for the victims or intended victims of murder.

__________________________

Pearson's Books in Black or Red, written for the less affluent book-collectors, devotes the entire last chapter to discussing De Quincey's ideas on murder; about De Quincey's condemnation of people satisfied with any sort of murder provided it's bloody enough and the thought that the subject of a murder should be a good man, not a public character, and in good health.

Which is what Pearson has been saying in Books in Black or Red all along about book-collecting.

The above quote is almost as long as this message, yet I cut a lot from the quote that I found in Macaulay's book Personal Pleasures.

The thought that Stories make you replace yourself can be seen a myriad of ways. Maybe because stories are teachers, they are showing us that some things about ourselves need to be replaced - acquired bad habits/thoughts discarded and better ones added. Medically, in order to continue living, isn't it every seven years that the blood(?) in our body has been totally replaced? It's a condition we all share as is the need to consider our lives. This is my interpretation; I'm sure there are many others.

Ginny, Notes From a Small Island! Funny, irreverent, musing, makes you want to go there - and now I want to visit Hay-on-Wye.

Ginny once mentioned the curious counterpoint of Morgan's duck call, Kwaa! Kwaa! to Paul and Jennifer's discussion of the Sixpence House survey (Chapter Seventeen Is At Death's Door pp 187-196).

I think Paul was playing fair and hinting at something, which he'd done before. More later ....

There is Morgan's duck call Kwaa! Kwaa!; the Cruise of the Kawa in Pearson's book; and the lark-whistle pp 126-7 of Sixpence which are interconnected IMO. Collins has played fair and left us enough hints - more than I'm mentioning here.

More than once Paul Collins recommends Pearson's Books in Black or Red. Two chapters in Pearson's books deal with the Literary Hoax.

(Pearson) "The writer of a review is supposed to approach a book...with a question. Is it what it appears to be, or is it parody, or satire? Has this author ever visited the curious place which he describes, or known the poet whose strange verses he quotes?" (4) My comment: We are not reviewers, but readers, yet we've questioned Sixpence House in any number of ways.

(Pearson) "No form of literary hoax seems to leave a permanent legacy of anger or annoyance," Pearson gives the examples of Nathanel Hawthorne's preface to The Scarlet Letter, Edgar Allan Poe's balloon hoax, Mark Twain's decision to hide his authorship of Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by the Sieur Lou de Conte.

(Pearson says that) "Such writers ... perpetrated in various forms, the literary hoax. Their purpose was not to deceive anyone to his harm, nor were they seeking unfair gain for themselves." (10)

(Pearson) "But 'The Cruise of the Kawa' was the most influential hoax of them all. Little pretence was made at the beginning; it was more a burlesque than a hoax. . . . The picture of the nest of the Fatu-Liva bird carried the burlesque so far that the nature of the book instantly became apparent to anyone who chanced to open it at that point." (24)

The Kawa was the name of the ship on which explorers of the South Seas found an uncharted island inhabited by cannibals and the Fatu-Liva bird, among other wonders on the island.

(Pearson muses on) "that weakness to which we are all subject: the tendency to believe whatever we see in print." (25)

Pearson's Books in Black or Red was recommended by Paul Collins more than once, and was mentioned in the back pages of Sixpence under Acknowledgements as one of the books which "inspired and shaped" Sixpence.

__________________________

I wonder then if there wasn't an actual, real-life househunting trip to Hay? Still, the Quest theme stands (STET), a quest for finding a Place in the world.

I imagine that Paul Collins had to HAVE been in Hay to write of the people as he did, and to have gained complicity from Richard Booth (and others?).

I believe Collins played fair and his intent was to have a narrative on which to hang his philosophical musings. What is fiction and what is nonfiction?

BaBi, you're definitely on top of sangfroid as being self-possession or imperturbable. It also means 'composure' according to my dictionary, which can be Collins word play for writing as well. So it has dual meanings?

One looks at a reference/allusion for what it says in the context of its surroundings and, once we've done that, then we look at how it's been cited (in this case in Sixpence). So we'd first consider the whole of De Quincey's essay "On Considering Murder as a Fine Art" which has subtle and not so subtle meanings relating to writing as when DQ discusses the composition of the fine art of murder.

To add to the literary interpretration of DQ, Pearson's book is listed by Collins as one that "inspired and shaped" Sixpence. Pearson's book for book-collectors has the entire ending chapter devoted to De Quincey's essay and Pearson talks about how to collect murders - again the tie-in to murder and composition.

Anyway, that's my take on it which doesn't mean its right or the only valid interpretation. I actually think we're both right? There can be many different perspectives for this book which makes the discussion fun for me and enlightening.

One of the books that "inspired and shaped" Sixpence is Nicholson Baker's The Size of Thoughts, a collection of

Baker's first essay explains the writing style of Collins in Sixpence I'll pick out some quotes from that essay, "Changes of Mind" --

"Changes of mind should be distinguished from decisions, for decisions seem to reside pertly in the present, while changes of mind imply habits of thought, a slow settling-out of truth, a partially felt, dense past." (6)

"Unless I am being unusually calculating, I don't decide to befriend someone, and it is the same way with a conviction: I slowly come to enjoy its company, to respect its counsel, to depend on it for reassurance; I find myself ignoring its weaknesses or excesses -- and if the friendship later ends, it is probably owning not to a sudden rift, but to a barnacling-over or nearly insignificant complaints." (6)

"Seldom, then, will any single argument change our minds about anything really interesting or important. In fact, reasoning and argument count for ... no more than 12 to 15 percent. . . . A haphazard flare of memory; an irrelevant grief; an anecdote in the newspaper; a turn of conversation that stings into motion a tiny doubt: from such incessant percussions the rational soul reorganizes itself -- we change our minds as we change our character." (6-7)

The essay ends with talking about changes in cultures and civilizations and historian of ideas.

I did an online search and found that amazon.com excerpts this chapter in its book listing. I read it that way first and then in the afternoon mail today, voila! there was my personal copy. Can't wait to read the chapter "Books As Furniture" and the rest.

With Baker's essay we have the answer to Ginny's "post hoc ergo propter hoc" gauntlet.

Isn't that a perfect book cover for The Size of Thoughts, Horselover? From now on I think I'll be acutely aware of such designs and "judge a book by its cover" -- well, more or less.

I like the Baker exercise you pointed out and also the Mlak.

Harriet was so right in musing how Collins drifts, as in a stream, from thought to thought. Now I can see the little point within a chapter where a change of mind occurs, like "My heart sinks" and "Where's the justice?"

It's been fun! Thank you Harriet, thanks everyone, for a wonderful discussion.

Yes, I say onward to Sixpence House. I'm ready to pack up and go.

Thank you for your e-mail. I am starting a booktown in Brownville, Nebraska, and fight a lonely battle against thousands of academics who do not realise that 99% of books in the world cannot be sold on the internet - their only salvation is booktowns.
Are you in England or America?

Kind regards
Richard Booth