because of the Earl in Earl's Court
My best friend is going on her first trip to London. So of course, I am debating whether to send her a copy of Neverwhere posthaste. In the pro column are the fact that it's awesome, and that while there are lots of books set in London, this one is about London in a way that happens to tug at everything I love about it; it kind of literalizes my feelings about the city, and all those layers of history underground.
In the con column, the fact that I don't know if she'll like it. Strangely, we don't exchange books very often; I *buy* her lots of books of course, books on subjects she's interested in, but she's perhaps my only close friend upon whom I haven't inflicted some (or most) of my favorite books. I did send her I Capture the Castle, back when the trip we'd planned to London a couple of years ago fell through...and she didn't really like it, and thought the movie was better, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep back my totally irrational wail of pain. So I wouldn't want to send her a book she feels obligated to read and might not like once she has. But it's such a perfect book to send, just for getting all the Tube jokes afterward!
Decisions, decisions...
In the con column, the fact that I don't know if she'll like it. Strangely, we don't exchange books very often; I *buy* her lots of books of course, books on subjects she's interested in, but she's perhaps my only close friend upon whom I haven't inflicted some (or most) of my favorite books. I did send her I Capture the Castle, back when the trip we'd planned to London a couple of years ago fell through...and she didn't really like it, and thought the movie was better, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep back my totally irrational wail of pain. So I wouldn't want to send her a book she feels obligated to read and might not like once she has. But it's such a perfect book to send, just for getting all the Tube jokes afterward!
Decisions, decisions...