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Parnassus #2
La libreria stregata
Intorno a un volume rilegato che scompare e ricompare - Lettere e discorsi di Oliver Cromwell di Thomas Carlyle, libro da comodino per il presidente americano Wilson - e attorno a una bottega di colti testi usati - diretta da una coppia spiritosa, e luogo di incontro di bibliofili originali -, si svolge questa specie di storia di spionaggio, antimilitarista e singolarmente antitedesca (ma più che antitedesca, contro quello spirito tenace ordinato e prepotente di cui lo svago libresco e il divagare polveroso attorno alle pagine sono il naturale avversario). E si dipana lentamente questa storia di spionaggio, perché in realtà nella Libreria stregata i protagonisti sono appunto quello svago e quel divagare. Christopher Morley scrisse questo «divertimento», negli anni dell'immediato dopoguerra, come seguito dell'altro, Il Parnaso ambulante, in cui la libreria, gestita dalla stessa coppia, è un bibliobus che corre avventure di strada, come qui è centro di un complotto.
283 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1919
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About the author
Christopher Morley
372 books195 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
American writer Christopher Darlington Morley founded the Saturday Review, from 1924 to 1940 edited it, and prolifically, most notably authored popular novels.
Christopher Morley, a journalist, essayist, and poet, also produced on stage for a few years and gave college lectures.
American writer Christopher Darlington Morley founded the Saturday Review, from 1924 to 1940 edited it, and prolifically, most notably authored popular novels.
Christopher Morley, a journalist, essayist, and poet, also produced on stage for a few years and gave college lectures.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,036 reviews
September 10, 2018
"Books are the immortality of the race, the father and mother of most that is worthwhile cherishing in our hearts. To spread good books about, to sow them on fertile minds, to propagate understanding and a carefulness of life and beauty, isn’t that high enough mission for a man? The bookseller is the real Mr. Valiant-For-Truth." – Mr. Roger Mifflin, Proprietor of 'The Haunted Bookshop'
I am wild for bookstores, in particular used bookstores. In fact, I can no longer visit a place, no matter how small the village or urban the setting, without seeking out at least one of these delightful sanctuaries. Honestly, no trip is complete without a stop and at least one purchase of a new-to-me hardcover or paperback for my home shelf. And while my family may roll their eyes as mine sparkle in anticipation of a quick sojourn, they are still very supportive of my obsession and I have to thank them dearly for that! While I seek out a treasure, they are typically up to some sort of antics amongst the more deserted aisles. I like to track down a piece by a local author if possible; otherwise anything from my list will suit. If you happen to be haunting one of these establishments as well, you would likely see me on my phone trying to access my Goodreads account.
Now, if an actual bookstore visit is not feasible, then reading about a bookstore may be second-best. There are a lot of choices out there right now for ‘books about books’ or novels about these sort of shops, but this is one of the earliest works out there that I have come across personally. Christopher Morley wrote this utterly charming novel, The Haunted Bookshop in 1918. Don’t be misled by the title, however, because you won’t get any spine-tingling sensations or need to stay up at night with the lights on after reading this one. (If you do find a goose bump or two, those would be likely due to the thought of all those books.) You see, the ‘haunting’ in this novel is of a different sort from anything you might read by Shirley Jackson or Stephen King (or insert favorite horror writer here). As Roger Mifflin, the very enlightened and often witty proprietor of the shop states: "That’s why I call this place the Haunted Bookshop. Haunted by the ghosts of the books I haven’t read. Poor uneasy spirits, they walk and walk around me. There’s only one way to lay the ghost of a book, and that is to read it."
Roger and wife, Helen, run this cozy little store in Brooklyn. When a young advertising agent by the name of Aubrey Gilbert walks into the shop to solicit his services (much to Mifflin’s dismay, as he is opposed to paying for such a thing when the books should speak for themselves), a friendship develops. This is shortly followed by the employment of a new assistant in the bookstore, the lovely and affluent Titania. The addition of these two into Mifflin’s little circle enables him to expound on his love of literature, his ideas regarding booksellers, his thoughts on the evils and futility of war, and his desire for world peace (most of which can be accomplished by widespread book-reading, naturally.)
"Printer’s ink has been running a race against gunpowder these many, many years. Ink is handicapped, in a way, because you can blow up a man with gunpowder in half a second, while it may take twenty years to blow him up with a book. But the gunpowder destroys itself along with its victim, while a book can keep on exploding for centuries."
There is a mystery to be found here as well, when a copy of one of Mifflin’s books disappears and reappears several times, and can even be seen in the hands of some unlikely readers. Mifflin of course is simply delighted to find that someone would wish to read a book badly enough that he would steal in order to do so. Aubrey Gilbert, however, suspects there may be more to the story than this. Having become instantly enamored with Titania, he feels it is his duty to protect her at all costs from any potential dangers lurking in the corners of the shop (whether she feels the need for such care or not.) Gilbert is no Sherlock Holmes, however, so things get a bit sticky when he puts his very amateur sleuthing skills to work. The mystery was intriguing and not quite what I expected. This was a fun romp through the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, culminating in an adventurous last scene! You may even bite a nail here if you feel so inclined!
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a very affable bookseller. I wouldn’t mind sitting down with Mr. Mifflin and having him read a bit of Dickens out loud to me over a cup of tea. He was a charming companion, and one with whom I can spend some more time in Parnassus on Wheels. I’ve apparently read these two books out of order, but I don’t think that spoils things too much. I look forward to another chat with both Roger and Helen next time around.
"There is no one so grateful as the man to whom you have given just the book his soul needed and he never knew it."
I am wild for bookstores, in particular used bookstores. In fact, I can no longer visit a place, no matter how small the village or urban the setting, without seeking out at least one of these delightful sanctuaries. Honestly, no trip is complete without a stop and at least one purchase of a new-to-me hardcover or paperback for my home shelf. And while my family may roll their eyes as mine sparkle in anticipation of a quick sojourn, they are still very supportive of my obsession and I have to thank them dearly for that! While I seek out a treasure, they are typically up to some sort of antics amongst the more deserted aisles. I like to track down a piece by a local author if possible; otherwise anything from my list will suit. If you happen to be haunting one of these establishments as well, you would likely see me on my phone trying to access my Goodreads account.
Now, if an actual bookstore visit is not feasible, then reading about a bookstore may be second-best. There are a lot of choices out there right now for ‘books about books’ or novels about these sort of shops, but this is one of the earliest works out there that I have come across personally. Christopher Morley wrote this utterly charming novel, The Haunted Bookshop in 1918. Don’t be misled by the title, however, because you won’t get any spine-tingling sensations or need to stay up at night with the lights on after reading this one. (If you do find a goose bump or two, those would be likely due to the thought of all those books.) You see, the ‘haunting’ in this novel is of a different sort from anything you might read by Shirley Jackson or Stephen King (or insert favorite horror writer here). As Roger Mifflin, the very enlightened and often witty proprietor of the shop states: "That’s why I call this place the Haunted Bookshop. Haunted by the ghosts of the books I haven’t read. Poor uneasy spirits, they walk and walk around me. There’s only one way to lay the ghost of a book, and that is to read it."
Roger and wife, Helen, run this cozy little store in Brooklyn. When a young advertising agent by the name of Aubrey Gilbert walks into the shop to solicit his services (much to Mifflin’s dismay, as he is opposed to paying for such a thing when the books should speak for themselves), a friendship develops. This is shortly followed by the employment of a new assistant in the bookstore, the lovely and affluent Titania. The addition of these two into Mifflin’s little circle enables him to expound on his love of literature, his ideas regarding booksellers, his thoughts on the evils and futility of war, and his desire for world peace (most of which can be accomplished by widespread book-reading, naturally.)
"Printer’s ink has been running a race against gunpowder these many, many years. Ink is handicapped, in a way, because you can blow up a man with gunpowder in half a second, while it may take twenty years to blow him up with a book. But the gunpowder destroys itself along with its victim, while a book can keep on exploding for centuries."
There is a mystery to be found here as well, when a copy of one of Mifflin’s books disappears and reappears several times, and can even be seen in the hands of some unlikely readers. Mifflin of course is simply delighted to find that someone would wish to read a book badly enough that he would steal in order to do so. Aubrey Gilbert, however, suspects there may be more to the story than this. Having become instantly enamored with Titania, he feels it is his duty to protect her at all costs from any potential dangers lurking in the corners of the shop (whether she feels the need for such care or not.) Gilbert is no Sherlock Holmes, however, so things get a bit sticky when he puts his very amateur sleuthing skills to work. The mystery was intriguing and not quite what I expected. This was a fun romp through the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, culminating in an adventurous last scene! You may even bite a nail here if you feel so inclined!
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a very affable bookseller. I wouldn’t mind sitting down with Mr. Mifflin and having him read a bit of Dickens out loud to me over a cup of tea. He was a charming companion, and one with whom I can spend some more time in Parnassus on Wheels. I’ve apparently read these two books out of order, but I don’t think that spoils things too much. I look forward to another chat with both Roger and Helen next time around.
"There is no one so grateful as the man to whom you have given just the book his soul needed and he never knew it."
July 18, 2019
You know all that advice about how to handle difficult scenarios, how they say to go to "your happy place" in your mind? Well, my brand new happy place is in Roger Mifflin's two story bookshop in Gissing Street in Brooklyn, with the living quarters in the rear of the second floor, and after a wonderful meal cooked by his wife, Helen, in front of a cozy fire in the grate, with a glass of brandy in my hand, I listen as Roger reads Dickens aloud. Ah yes, my happy place.
"For paradise in the world to come is uncertain, but there is indeed a heaven on this earth, a heaven which we inhabit when we read a good book".
" Did you ever notice how some books track you down and hunt you out? Words can't describe the cunning of some books. You'll think you've shaken them off your trail, and then one day some innocent looking customer will pop in and begin to talk, and you'll know he's an unconscious agent of book destiny".
"You see, books contain the hopes and dreams of men, their hopes and striving and all their immortal parts. It's in books that most of us learn how splendidly worthwhile life is"
"Long ago I fell back on books as the only permanent consolers. It saddens me to think I have to die with thousands of books unread that would have given me noble and unblemished happiness".
I could quote Roger's words from every page, but those four will give you some idea of the treat in store for readers. The bookshop is only haunted by the ghosts of unread authors, but there's a pretty good little mystery involved, along with the charm of New York in an earlier time. This was a worthy follow-up to "Parnassus on Wheels", but not necessary to have read that one first to enjoy this one.
"For paradise in the world to come is uncertain, but there is indeed a heaven on this earth, a heaven which we inhabit when we read a good book".
" Did you ever notice how some books track you down and hunt you out? Words can't describe the cunning of some books. You'll think you've shaken them off your trail, and then one day some innocent looking customer will pop in and begin to talk, and you'll know he's an unconscious agent of book destiny".
"You see, books contain the hopes and dreams of men, their hopes and striving and all their immortal parts. It's in books that most of us learn how splendidly worthwhile life is"
"Long ago I fell back on books as the only permanent consolers. It saddens me to think I have to die with thousands of books unread that would have given me noble and unblemished happiness".
I could quote Roger's words from every page, but those four will give you some idea of the treat in store for readers. The bookshop is only haunted by the ghosts of unread authors, but there's a pretty good little mystery involved, along with the charm of New York in an earlier time. This was a worthy follow-up to "Parnassus on Wheels", but not necessary to have read that one first to enjoy this one.
September 19, 2015
Long ago I fell back on books as the only permanent consolers. They are the one stainless and unimpeachable achievement of the human race. It saddens me to think that I shall have to die with thousands of books unread that would have given me noble and unblemished happiness.
Scott Esposito made a shocking confession a few years ago on Coversational Reading: he didn't go to used book stores. He bought used books exclusively online. I was and remain shocked. Julian Barnes noted once with typical eloquence in The Guardian that the internet has certainly solved the dilemma of The Collector, but what it has obscured is the clumsy accidents in the stacks which change our lives.
I picked this up at a sale a few years back. My attentions were drawn to such because of a GR list about numerous texts cited within, including Burton's Anatomy. Well, not only is Anatomy of Melancholy referenced, it is inspires the protagonist and the novel three-quarters of the way through. This can be read a well crafted potboiler about 1919 Brooklyn. it is also an alert about what is slipping from view. The Haunted Bookshop was selected as a diversion on day ravaged by sinus issues. It s call is greater than that. It is an affirmation of our nerdy treks.
Scott Esposito made a shocking confession a few years ago on Coversational Reading: he didn't go to used book stores. He bought used books exclusively online. I was and remain shocked. Julian Barnes noted once with typical eloquence in The Guardian that the internet has certainly solved the dilemma of The Collector, but what it has obscured is the clumsy accidents in the stacks which change our lives.
I picked this up at a sale a few years back. My attentions were drawn to such because of a GR list about numerous texts cited within, including Burton's Anatomy. Well, not only is Anatomy of Melancholy referenced, it is inspires the protagonist and the novel three-quarters of the way through. This can be read a well crafted potboiler about 1919 Brooklyn. it is also an alert about what is slipping from view. The Haunted Bookshop was selected as a diversion on day ravaged by sinus issues. It s call is greater than that. It is an affirmation of our nerdy treks.
August 13, 2015
2.5 Stars
I found this somewhat disappointing after Parnassus on Wheels. in Parnassus, we had a sweet, comfort read, perfect for book lovers. In Haunted Bookshop, we still have a bookish setting which is nice, but the story itself (in my opinion) is a cheesy, rather boring mystery featuring German troublemakers, a missing book, and a tepid romance.
Nope, not a winner for me.
By the way, this is not a ghost story. The only "ghosts" are fictional characters living in unread books.
Oh, and one thing that bugged me as a book lover, the incessant SMOKING done in the bookshop. Nooooo, don't do it! Think of the yellow tar, the smell forever impregnated in the (now) sticky pages. No, no no. NOT in a bookstore. Such desecration, oh I can hardly take this sitting down.
Ps...Some of my GR friends enjoyed this a lot more than I did, so don't let me put you off, you might enjoy it more.
I found this somewhat disappointing after Parnassus on Wheels. in Parnassus, we had a sweet, comfort read, perfect for book lovers. In Haunted Bookshop, we still have a bookish setting which is nice, but the story itself (in my opinion) is a cheesy, rather boring mystery featuring German troublemakers, a missing book, and a tepid romance.
Nope, not a winner for me.
By the way, this is not a ghost story. The only "ghosts" are fictional characters living in unread books.
Oh, and one thing that bugged me as a book lover, the incessant SMOKING done in the bookshop. Nooooo, don't do it! Think of the yellow tar, the smell forever impregnated in the (now) sticky pages. No, no no. NOT in a bookstore. Such desecration, oh I can hardly take this sitting down.
Ps...Some of my GR friends enjoyed this a lot more than I did, so don't let me put you off, you might enjoy it more.
September 27, 2017
A love letter to booksellers, The Haunted Bookshop says,"In every bookstore, small or large, there are books we have not read; books which may have messages of unsuspected beauty or importance. They may be new books, they may be of yesterday, or of long ago. . . We have what you need, though you may not know you need it."
July 8, 2012
Well-loved books from my past
Rating: 3.5* of five
Allegedly a spy story-cum-mystery, it's really a love note from author Morley to the trade of bookselling, with a side of supremely sweet love story.
And I can't help myself, I am charmed and beguiled by the book, by the memories it holds, and by the sheer anti-German fervor of it.
This book and Parnassus on Wheels were in my maternal grandmother's library. She died in 1977, and I chose these two books to be mine because I liked the titles. I read them over that summer, while I was staying in California with my father and stepmother. It was a trying period. The escape into a whimsical, crabby, loving relationship between the couple before and after their marriage was welcome, and the stuff about books...the mystical *fit* between reader and writer, abetted by the bookseller...has stayed with me all these years.
My father was a very proud Nordic Aryan. He thought of himself as an Ubermensch of the first water, and was constantly extolling German thises and thatses and buying Blaupunkt radios and Telefunken TVs and BMWs and Porsches. I used the period-perfect anti-German caricatures in this book to get up his nose in a way he couldn't complain about without getting his titty in the wringer of freedom of speech and encouraging reading etc etc. Hours of fun for me, I can only imagine how ready to murder me he must have been. Heh.
So it's unlikely I'll reread the books now, but what joy they afforded me then! Given the sheer meanness of my appreciation for them, I think it wisest to leave these two entertainments in the groves of memory as lovely flowers beside the path leading to adulthood.
Rating: 3.5* of five
Allegedly a spy story-cum-mystery, it's really a love note from author Morley to the trade of bookselling, with a side of supremely sweet love story.
And I can't help myself, I am charmed and beguiled by the book, by the memories it holds, and by the sheer anti-German fervor of it.
This book and Parnassus on Wheels were in my maternal grandmother's library. She died in 1977, and I chose these two books to be mine because I liked the titles. I read them over that summer, while I was staying in California with my father and stepmother. It was a trying period. The escape into a whimsical, crabby, loving relationship between the couple before and after their marriage was welcome, and the stuff about books...the mystical *fit* between reader and writer, abetted by the bookseller...has stayed with me all these years.
My father was a very proud Nordic Aryan. He thought of himself as an Ubermensch of the first water, and was constantly extolling German thises and thatses and buying Blaupunkt radios and Telefunken TVs and BMWs and Porsches. I used the period-perfect anti-German caricatures in this book to get up his nose in a way he couldn't complain about without getting his titty in the wringer of freedom of speech and encouraging reading etc etc. Hours of fun for me, I can only imagine how ready to murder me he must have been. Heh.
So it's unlikely I'll reread the books now, but what joy they afforded me then! Given the sheer meanness of my appreciation for them, I think it wisest to leave these two entertainments in the groves of memory as lovely flowers beside the path leading to adulthood.
May 18, 2013
I seem to be the only person to like Morley's first book, Parnassus on Wheels, better than the sequel. I think it was mainly that I enjoyed Helen as a POV character better than Aubrey, who I didn't much care for. I mean, I get that his callow-youth-ness was deliberate, but I didn't care much about him nor was I rooting for him to get the girl. You can do better, Titania!
The German spy plot was pretty silly, although it probably held up better in the WWI era. It was fun, though, and all the parts about books were good.
May 25, 2018
"Read, every day, something no one else is reading," said the civilized Christopher Morley. Here's his valentine to lovers of books and bookshops. What are spies doing at the shop in Brooklyn ? Reading the same book, of course.
An early work (1919) from the likeable Morley is excessively cute. It reads like a YA story as W1 spies in Brooklyn seek to plant a bomb in a book that will be given to dullard President Wilson as he heads by ship to the Peace Conference. This ode to bookstores, "one of humanity's great engines," has a barking dog who nabs the culprit and has a final woof.
An early work (1919) from the likeable Morley is excessively cute. It reads like a YA story as W1 spies in Brooklyn seek to plant a bomb in a book that will be given to dullard President Wilson as he heads by ship to the Peace Conference. This ode to bookstores, "one of humanity's great engines," has a barking dog who nabs the culprit and has a final woof.
February 24, 2017
UNA DELICIA. En serio, una historia deliciosa, mágica. Su autor, Christopher Morley, nos adentra en una librería encantada (tal como reza el título del libro), donde conoceremos la pasión que siente el librero por los libros; por esos fantasmas que, según él, asechan a todo lector. También veremos y conoceremos a la señorita Titania, hija de un rico hombre de negocios, que se traslada a vivir a la librería, y como no, al publicista que palpita por su amor. Y como no podía ser de otra manera, toda historia necesita un misterio..., que no voy a desvelar.
"No soy un negociante, sino un especialista en ajustar cada libro a una necesidad humana. Un libro que para mí es bueno a usted podría parecerle una tontería. Mi gran placer es prescribir libros para todos los pacientes que vengan hasta aquí deseosos de contarme sus síntomas. Algunas personas han permitido que sus facultades lectoras hayan decaído tanto que lo único que puedo hacer es colgarles un letrero que diga Post Mortem. Aun así, muchos tienen todavía la posibilidad de recibir tratamiento. No hay nadie más agradecido que un hombre a quien le has recomendado el libro que su alma necesitaba sin saberlo".
"No soy un negociante, sino un especialista en ajustar cada libro a una necesidad humana. Un libro que para mí es bueno a usted podría parecerle una tontería. Mi gran placer es prescribir libros para todos los pacientes que vengan hasta aquí deseosos de contarme sus síntomas. Algunas personas han permitido que sus facultades lectoras hayan decaído tanto que lo único que puedo hacer es colgarles un letrero que diga Post Mortem. Aun así, muchos tienen todavía la posibilidad de recibir tratamiento. No hay nadie más agradecido que un hombre a quien le has recomendado el libro que su alma necesitaba sin saberlo".
July 23, 2019
If you've worked in publishing, bookselling, and/or advertising and if you love "inside" industry talk and you don't mind pontificating about books that were popular in 1918 and philosophy, war and peace, and the human mind in general, and if you are interested in learning about the post-World War I political unrest that was comparable to right now, you may love hanging out in this bookshop in Brooklyn, and you may be charmed by this book.
It's the second of a series; I haven't read the first one, but I jumped into The Haunted Bookshop on the strength of Diane Barnes's excellent review where she calls the bookshop her "happy place." I'm with her. It mattered not a lick that I didn't understand all the references and hadn't read most of the books mentioned (it did prompt me to pull down my parents' 1917 edition of Dere Mable which has been gathering dust on my top shelf for more than 40 years and mark various obscure texts "to read"). I just like this place and Marley's voice and mind. It made me happy. And I loved being educated.
It's the second of a series; I haven't read the first one, but I jumped into The Haunted Bookshop on the strength of Diane Barnes's excellent review where she calls the bookshop her "happy place." I'm with her. It mattered not a lick that I didn't understand all the references and hadn't read most of the books mentioned (it did prompt me to pull down my parents' 1917 edition of Dere Mable which has been gathering dust on my top shelf for more than 40 years and mark various obscure texts "to read"). I just like this place and Marley's voice and mind. It made me happy. And I loved being educated.
October 18, 2012
This is a charming homage to the world of second hand booksellers, set in the time immediately after WWI. Roger Mifflin reprises his role begun in Parnassus on Wheels but is now stationary with his now-wife Helen in a bookstore in Brooklyn, not rolling along the roads of the country as an itinerant bookseller. The story allows for frequent philosophical musing on the place of books in the then modern world, the place of the seller as an educator of the masses.
If this sounds heavy, it most definitely is not. The novel is light and fun with a smile on most every page. Some of the thoughts about the publishing industry seem surprisingly modern. It seems some things never change. There is a mystery and a romance to top off the tale.
Highly recommended as a period piece but I recommend reading "Parnassus on Wheels" first.
If this sounds heavy, it most definitely is not. The novel is light and fun with a smile on most every page. Some of the thoughts about the publishing industry seem surprisingly modern. It seems some things never change. There is a mystery and a romance to top off the tale.
Highly recommended as a period piece but I recommend reading "Parnassus on Wheels" first.
June 12, 2023
كحال جميع البدايات .. تمنيت أن تستمر، ولكن للأسف !!
نعم، تمنيت أن تطول الرواية كما بدأت، في متجر الكتب القديم، بكتبة النادرة، ورفوفه المتربة، وأوراقه الصفراء الباهتة إلا من بقع الحبر الداكن والعناوين البارزة ...
تمنيت أن تطول إقامتي في الدور العلوي بجانب المدفأة وإبريق الشاي الساخن والفطائر اللذيذة التي نرتشف معها أحاديث الأدب والاقتباسات المنسية مع قليل من الأشعار، التي تعطي للخبز الذهبي المطعم بالزبد طعما يسافر بك عبر الورق لزمن يبدو وكأنه علي بعد مئآت من السنين الفكرية .. فترحل معه عبر الزمن والفكر والحال، ثم تعود بين الحين والحين لعالمنا حين يباغتك الواقع فجأة، فتعود وتتذكر انك هنا ولست هناك !!
إلا أن روعة البدايات نادرا ما تستمر،،
فلقد سارت الرواية في مسار مختلف، حقا لم يبعدني كثيرا عن عالم الكتب، ولكن أضاف له مسارا آخر، وعالم اخر، وأحداثا أخري انزلتني من الطابق العلوي الهادئ الي أرض الواقع بين المكائد والمؤامرات ..
عامة .. هي تجربة جميلة، خذ منها ما يتناسب معك .. واترك الباقي لحاله، فروعة البدايات احيانا تكفي ✓
ويكفيني جدا ما بحثت عنه من عناوين لمؤلفات كلاسيكية عتقها الزمن في مكتبات منسية .. ووجدتها حمدالله .. وبإذن الله قريبا جدا سأبدأ رحلتي معها ✓✓
الترشيح الاول رواية (الرجل الذي كان الخميس) من اشهر كلاسيكيات الأدب الإنجليزي 🌹متاحة للتحميل علي الانترنت بترجمتين ل:
أحمد خالد توفيق رحمه الله
وعماد منصور
اختر ما يعجبك 💐
October 31, 2014
Many - most? - of the books available on Project Gutenberg are otherwise forgotten. Some of them quite deservedly so. And this is one of those.
Roger Mifflin runs a secondhand bookshop in just-post-WW1 Brooklyn, and expounds at great and rather tedious length on his philosophy of bookselling. Aubrey Gilbert works for an advertising agency and falls in love with Roger's "apprentice", the beautiful daughter of the advertising agency's biggest client. A copy of Carlyle's "Cromwell" keeps vanishing from and reappearing on the bookshop's shelves.
The basic story is a slightly silly, but perfectly serviceable, thriller involving Aubrey, the bookshop, and German spies. It also contains much to interest the dabbler in social history, with the descriptions of lodging houses, cheap restaurants, and other details of life in New York a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, the author couldn't resist letting Roger babble on about books, bookselling, and reading, at quite appalling and utterly irrelevant length, leaving the story hanging at often inopportune moments. And his thoughts, alas, are repetitive and not really very interesting.
The author would have done better to have saved the philosophising for an essay and left the story uninterrupted.
Roger Mifflin runs a secondhand bookshop in just-post-WW1 Brooklyn, and expounds at great and rather tedious length on his philosophy of bookselling. Aubrey Gilbert works for an advertising agency and falls in love with Roger's "apprentice", the beautiful daughter of the advertising agency's biggest client. A copy of Carlyle's "Cromwell" keeps vanishing from and reappearing on the bookshop's shelves.
The basic story is a slightly silly, but perfectly serviceable, thriller involving Aubrey, the bookshop, and German spies. It also contains much to interest the dabbler in social history, with the descriptions of lodging houses, cheap restaurants, and other details of life in New York a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, the author couldn't resist letting Roger babble on about books, bookselling, and reading, at quite appalling and utterly irrelevant length, leaving the story hanging at often inopportune moments. And his thoughts, alas, are repetitive and not really very interesting.
The author would have done better to have saved the philosophising for an essay and left the story uninterrupted.
August 10, 2016
This classic mystery was a real page turner, very exciting, and for the book lover there was alot of additional knowledge on the history of various books, authors, etc. The plot, which focuses on some unusual happenings at the Mifflin's bookshop, was well presented and though it appeared to be a bit slow at times with Roger Mifflin expounding on books and their importance coupled with many elements of the book trade, the information was so interesting that I don't believe the volume deserves anything less than 5 stars...
"When you sell a man a book," says Roger Mifflin, protagonist of these classic bookselling novels, "you don't sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue you sell him a whole new life."
"When you sell a man a book," says Roger Mifflin, protagonist of these classic bookselling novels, "you don't sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue you sell him a whole new life."
June 5, 2017
את הספר הראשון פרנסוס על גלגלים אהבתי, הוא היה מקסים. הספר הזה טרחני, להגני ומעייף בנאומים האינסופיים על ספרים עתיקים שכיום חסרי משמעות. מי מכיר את תומס קרלייל? אפילו רוג'ר טוען כי חלק מהספרים הללו משמימים ומרדימים, אז מה יתרונם לקורא המסכן?
יחד עם זאת יש בו ניצוצות של מה שהיה טוב בספר הראשון במיוחד אהבת הספרים.
רוג'ר מייפלין ואישתו הלן עוזבים את הנדודים ומשתקעים בברוקלין. הם מקימים חנות ספרי יד שניה וביתם נמצא מעל לחנות. לחנות מגיעים כל מיני טיפוסים ציבעוניים ורוג'ר סבור כי החנות רדופה ברוחות. אבל לא רק רוחות חורשות זימה בחנות, אלא גם מזימות קונקרטיות ופיזיות יותר.
רוג'ר והלן שוכרים את טטיאנה צ'פמן, סתו של ג'ורג' צ'פמן לעזור בחנות. טטיאנה מתלמדת וכשיום אחד מגיע לחנות אייברי, סוכן פירסומות, היא שובה את ליבו והוא מתחיל לקרקר סביבה כמו תרנגול מאוהב.
ברקע של הספר, מזימה איומה של הגרמנים לפגוע בוודרו וילסון. כיצד ואיך תוכלו לקרוא בנפתולי הספר.
הספר הזה כבד ואין בו את הקלילות של פרנסוס. הוא נכתב לאחר מלחמת העולם הראשונה, ב 1919. אז חשבו שמלחמת העולם הראשון על 30 מליון הרוגיה היא הנוראית ביותר. האנושות לא חזתה בהרס והחורבן של הירושימה ונגסקי, היא לא חזתה בעשרות מליונים רבים של חיילים הרוגים בקרבות של מלחמת העולם השניה והיא לא חזתה בטיהורים של סטאלין. אז לא היה אינטרנט, לא היו תוכניות ראליטי ולספרים כמעט לא היתה תחרות על תשומת ליבו של האדם.
המזימה לא ממש מזימה והאהבה לא לגמרי אהבה. כך שנותרתי עם חצי תאוותי בידי.
יחד עם זאת יש בו ניצוצות של מה שהיה טוב בספר הראשון במיוחד אהבת הספרים.
רוג'ר מייפלין ואישתו הלן עוזבים את הנדודים ומשתקעים בברוקלין. הם מקימים חנות ספרי יד שניה וביתם נמצא מעל לחנות. לחנות מגיעים כל מיני טיפוסים ציבעוניים ורוג'ר סבור כי החנות רדופה ברוחות. אבל לא רק רוחות חורשות זימה בחנות, אלא גם מזימות קונקרטיות ופיזיות יותר.
רוג'ר והלן שוכרים את טטיאנה צ'פמן, סתו של ג'ורג' צ'פמן לעזור בחנות. טטיאנה מתלמדת וכשיום אחד מגיע לחנות אייברי, סוכן פירסומות, היא שובה את ליבו והוא מתחיל לקרקר סביבה כמו תרנגול מאוהב.
ברקע של הספר, מזימה איומה של הגרמנים לפגוע בוודרו וילסון. כיצד ואיך תוכלו לקרוא בנפתולי הספר.
הספר הזה כבד ואין בו את הקלילות של פרנסוס. הוא נכתב לאחר מלחמת העולם הראשונה, ב 1919. אז חשבו שמלחמת העולם הראשון על 30 מליון הרוגיה היא הנוראית ביותר. האנושות לא חזתה בהרס והחורבן של הירושימה ונגסקי, היא לא חזתה בעשרות מליונים רבים של חיילים הרוגים בקרבות של מלחמת העולם השניה והיא לא חזתה בטיהורים של סטאלין. אז לא היה אינטרנט, לא היו תוכניות ראליטי ולספרים כמעט לא היתה תחרות על תשומת ליבו של האדם.
המזימה לא ממש מזימה והאהבה לא לגמרי אהבה. כך שנותרתי עם חצי תאוותי בידי.
July 2, 2017
If you go to this book looking for ghosts you'll be disappointed but if you go to it looking for humor, a mystery and interesting characters straight out of the end of WWI then this is a good choice.
President Wilson is headed out to the peace talks at the end of the war. The trip is the opening terrorists have been waiting for.
The Haunted Bookshop, so named because the owner is haunted by all the books he hasn't read (I can identify, Dude) has lost track of a book. He is happy someone loved the book enough to steal it. It is also the Presidents favorite book.
This was an excellent book and s fun read! One of my favorite parts was the prescriptions the bookshop owner put on his bulletin board. He called them his 'bibliotherapy'. He listed books for when a person needs happiness, or if you have trouble sleeping, etc. 😊💕
President Wilson is headed out to the peace talks at the end of the war. The trip is the opening terrorists have been waiting for.
The Haunted Bookshop, so named because the owner is haunted by all the books he hasn't read (I can identify, Dude) has lost track of a book. He is happy someone loved the book enough to steal it. It is also the Presidents favorite book.
This was an excellent book and s fun read! One of my favorite parts was the prescriptions the bookshop owner put on his bulletin board. He called them his 'bibliotherapy'. He listed books for when a person needs happiness, or if you have trouble sleeping, etc. 😊💕
September 13, 2021
3,5/5
De una naturaleza muy distinta a La librería ambulante, el primero de esta dilogía, La librería encantada es a ratos un ensayo, una novela negra y un relato medio cómico medio serio. La mezcla de tantos elementos fluye muy bien a veces, y otras no tanto. Respecto a La librería ambulante, me ha gustado el hecho de que esta obra tiene pasajes más reflexivos, casi preciosistas; pero pierde muchos puntos por ser más desigual en trama, profundización de los personajes, enfoque argumental y estilo.
De una naturaleza muy distinta a La librería ambulante, el primero de esta dilogía, La librería encantada es a ratos un ensayo, una novela negra y un relato medio cómico medio serio. La mezcla de tantos elementos fluye muy bien a veces, y otras no tanto. Respecto a La librería ambulante, me ha gustado el hecho de que esta obra tiene pasajes más reflexivos, casi preciosistas; pero pierde muchos puntos por ser más desigual en trama, profundización de los personajes, enfoque argumental y estilo.
March 29, 2018
I wanted to like this book - after all, who doesn't like books about books. But, aside from being very boring, it ended up being just lists of all the important books that Morley thought needed to be read - and not a SINGLE book by a female author. Ok. Moving along. The young male advertiser has befriended the bookseller and becomes infatuated with the young female apprentice who has come to work at the shop. He keeps going on and on about how BEAUTIFUL she is, and that she has no RIGHT to be so beautiful, and, in fact, she's so BEAUTIFUL that he wants to BEAT her. Ok. This is not good. Is it just Morley being an a**hole? or was this really the prevailing atmosphere regarding women in 1919? I'm not sticking around to find out.
October 20, 2009
Required reading for every booklover. I had to wait a day before writing this review so I wouldn't gush too embarrassingly. The book contains a trite, amusing little mystery, interesting in it's parallels to current history and acts of terrorism. Yes, the pen is mightier than the sword, and I wonder if the secret service keeps an eye on copies of Team of Rivals and Lush Life, Obama's recent reading picks.
But the book is magnificent when Morley lets Mr. Mifflin rant. At times I felt I was reading current blogs on bookseller sites: "She asked for The Passing of the Stone, and it turns out she wanted Shelters of Stone; it was blue; it was on this table last year; it has a vampire..."
Do booksellers supply the demand, or create the demand? I've always believed that booksellers do not deal in "merchandise", though my beliefs are strongly challenged after repeated inquiries for Twilight, Charlaine Harris, and Lost Symbol, just as Mifflin is discouraged by "that book about the boy raised by Monks." You mean Tarzan?! I like his idea that the uncommon customer acts as our "unconscious agent of book-destiny," leading us to an author we haven't yet met. I'd like to call myself an agent of book-destiny, shedding light on the books that hold up despite a lack of advertising. Sounds rather angelic, no?
This is the first time I've ever been tempted to read a book a second time right away. But the pull of book-destiny will assert itself too strongly, and I know I'll be led, instead, to read a handful more Morley titles as I can find them (why are they going out of print?!) with, perhaps, a few more readings of the first through third chapters, for some phrases to keep in my head as the next person asks me for "that history of Masonism" or "Dear God, it's Vodka."
But the book is magnificent when Morley lets Mr. Mifflin rant. At times I felt I was reading current blogs on bookseller sites: "She asked for The Passing of the Stone, and it turns out she wanted Shelters of Stone; it was blue; it was on this table last year; it has a vampire..."
Do booksellers supply the demand, or create the demand? I've always believed that booksellers do not deal in "merchandise", though my beliefs are strongly challenged after repeated inquiries for Twilight, Charlaine Harris, and Lost Symbol, just as Mifflin is discouraged by "that book about the boy raised by Monks." You mean Tarzan?! I like his idea that the uncommon customer acts as our "unconscious agent of book-destiny," leading us to an author we haven't yet met. I'd like to call myself an agent of book-destiny, shedding light on the books that hold up despite a lack of advertising. Sounds rather angelic, no?
This is the first time I've ever been tempted to read a book a second time right away. But the pull of book-destiny will assert itself too strongly, and I know I'll be led, instead, to read a handful more Morley titles as I can find them (why are they going out of print?!) with, perhaps, a few more readings of the first through third chapters, for some phrases to keep in my head as the next person asks me for "that history of Masonism" or "Dear God, it's Vodka."
June 19, 2015
Ich habe das Buch aufgeschlagen und hatte das Gefühl, da spricht jemand aus den Tiefen meines bibliophilen Herzen. Roger Mifflin ist die Idealvorstellung eines Buchhändlers. Er und seine Frau leben ihren gemeinsamen Büchertraum in dem Antiquariat ‚Parnassus‘, in dem es laut ihrer Aussage spukt. Es ist ein ruhiges Leben, in dem sich alles um Bücher und ihren Hund Bock dreht. Welcher Leser fühlt sich da wohl nicht verstanden und möchte am liebsten gleich einziehen? Doch der Leser sollte sich nicht in den Büchern und dem Rauch der Pfeife verlieren und so geht es bald nicht mehr ganz so beschaulich zu. Eine reiche Erbin wird zum Azubi des Buchhändlers und ein junger Mann darf bald am eigenen Leib erfahren, dass Bücher durchaus gefährlich sein können.
Mich sprachen besonders der Sprachstil, die eingestreuten Weisheiten bzw. Gedankengänge an. Manche Passagen empfand ich doch als etwas langatmig, dann wieder überschlagen sich die Ereignisse. Der Autor hatte einige sehr schöne Ideen, die Charaktere waren meist nachvollziehbar, allerdings konnte ich die Handlungsweise von Aubrey nicht verstehen, ich fand sie teilweise überzogen und ziemlich einfältig.
Die Geschichte spielt im Jahr 1919 und so kann ich die Wut auf die Deutschen ganz gut nachvollziehen, aber so ganz einverstanden kann ich mich damit nicht erklären. Wer das Buch gelesen hat, kann sich vielleicht denken, was ich damit meine.
Drei Gründe, um dieses Buch zu lesen:
- Leser fühlen sich verstanden und gut in dieser Buchhandlung aufgehoben
- Spannende Story, die sich natürlich um ein Buch dreht
- Man nostalgischen Charme mag
Mich sprachen besonders der Sprachstil, die eingestreuten Weisheiten bzw. Gedankengänge an. Manche Passagen empfand ich doch als etwas langatmig, dann wieder überschlagen sich die Ereignisse. Der Autor hatte einige sehr schöne Ideen, die Charaktere waren meist nachvollziehbar, allerdings konnte ich die Handlungsweise von Aubrey nicht verstehen, ich fand sie teilweise überzogen und ziemlich einfältig.
Die Geschichte spielt im Jahr 1919 und so kann ich die Wut auf die Deutschen ganz gut nachvollziehen, aber so ganz einverstanden kann ich mich damit nicht erklären. Wer das Buch gelesen hat, kann sich vielleicht denken, was ich damit meine.
Drei Gründe, um dieses Buch zu lesen:
- Leser fühlen sich verstanden und gut in dieser Buchhandlung aufgehoben
- Spannende Story, die sich natürlich um ein Buch dreht
- Man nostalgischen Charme mag
August 8, 2022
Not my cup of tea
August 10, 2024
With a touch of romance and madcap situations throughout, this would have made a great mid 1900s movie. Aubrey Gilbert works for an ad agency. While trying to get an ad with Roger Mifflin, proprietor and owner of The Haunted Bookshop, Aubrey finds himself in the middle of a mystery about a lost/stolen book and falling for the bookshop's new employee Titania Chapman. Written in 1919 and set shortly after the end of World War I, Germans are not to be trusted, people wait for 25 minutes to make a long distance connection and Woodrow Wilson is on his way to a peace talks in Europe.
If you like stories set in the past that were actually written during the time they take place, this is for you.
If you like stories set in the past that were actually written during the time they take place, this is for you.
May 9, 2014
Mr Roger Mifflin and his wife Helen ran The Haunted Bookshop together – living upstairs above their shop was a delight and a pleasure for them both. Mr Mifflin spent his days wreathed in cigar smoke, enjoying the customers and their pursuits for the next best book. The evenings were extra special as the people who had toiled over a day’s work could relax and browse the many shelves with Mr Mifflin always on hand to help with a suggestion should they need it. His explanation on the name of his bookshop was unexpected, with a little sign at the entrance for all to see.
When a vivacious young woman by the name of Titania Chapman began as Mr Mifflin’s assistant, she was full of excitement – her father had arranged this job for her as he and the proprietor were good friends – her love of books was great, but she hadn’t had much opportunity to read. This would change. And the day a young man by the name of Aubrey Gilbert entered The Haunted Bookshop to sell Mr Mifflin some advertising was the beginning of an adventure which could have had a disastrous ending…
Originally written in 1918 The Haunted Bookshop is an absolute delight. The war and the effects the Germans had on London are mentioned with Mr Mifflin sure the war would not have happened had the Germans read his books, some special titles in particular. The long (and sometimes tedious) discussions were interspersed with a slowly weaving plot which crept up gradually, to gather speed and shock in the conclusion. I very much enjoyed this unexpectedly wonderful book, and have no hesitation in recommending it to all.
When a vivacious young woman by the name of Titania Chapman began as Mr Mifflin’s assistant, she was full of excitement – her father had arranged this job for her as he and the proprietor were good friends – her love of books was great, but she hadn’t had much opportunity to read. This would change. And the day a young man by the name of Aubrey Gilbert entered The Haunted Bookshop to sell Mr Mifflin some advertising was the beginning of an adventure which could have had a disastrous ending…
Originally written in 1918 The Haunted Bookshop is an absolute delight. The war and the effects the Germans had on London are mentioned with Mr Mifflin sure the war would not have happened had the Germans read his books, some special titles in particular. The long (and sometimes tedious) discussions were interspersed with a slowly weaving plot which crept up gradually, to gather speed and shock in the conclusion. I very much enjoyed this unexpectedly wonderful book, and have no hesitation in recommending it to all.
March 24, 2019
I'm relistening to this and it is still perfectly charming. The love of books is wonderful and the sense of humor gentle but it makes me laugh. As I mentioned in my original comments, below, one must simply be (as the omniscient narrator tells us, "tolerant") of the little bookseller's political commentary.
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A wealthy young woman's father gets her a job at his friend's second hand book shop in order to teach her about real life. It soon turns into a mystery. Is the bookshop haunted? Or is there something else going on, as the young woman's admirer (a dedicated advertising man)?
I remembered that I began listening to this LibriVox recording some time ago and then stopped when beginning my Lenten podcast fast (yes, SOME time ago!). I picked it up to finish it again and have been really enjoying the low-key mystery, the gentle humor of the advertising man who sees everything in respect to his trade (even his love interest), and the amusing book theories put forth by the bookshop owner (who would not recognize them as being amusing at all, although we do). I have gotten somewhat tired of the bookshop owners continual monologues in the guise of letters to friends about peace versus war. Some is fine but he does go on and on. Overall this is short and a nice period piece that holds interest and introduces us to some interesting characters. I am going to backtrack when I'm done with this and listen to the prequel, Parnassus on Wheels.
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A wealthy young woman's father gets her a job at his friend's second hand book shop in order to teach her about real life. It soon turns into a mystery. Is the bookshop haunted? Or is there something else going on, as the young woman's admirer (a dedicated advertising man)?
I remembered that I began listening to this LibriVox recording some time ago and then stopped when beginning my Lenten podcast fast (yes, SOME time ago!). I picked it up to finish it again and have been really enjoying the low-key mystery, the gentle humor of the advertising man who sees everything in respect to his trade (even his love interest), and the amusing book theories put forth by the bookshop owner (who would not recognize them as being amusing at all, although we do). I have gotten somewhat tired of the bookshop owners continual monologues in the guise of letters to friends about peace versus war. Some is fine but he does go on and on. Overall this is short and a nice period piece that holds interest and introduces us to some interesting characters. I am going to backtrack when I'm done with this and listen to the prequel, Parnassus on Wheels.
September 14, 2017
Maybe different in tone from Parnassus on wheels but I still liked it. The plot isn't really original (and maybe it is? you have to remember that this book was written a century ago) but the writing is fantastic. Short and lovely.
October 15, 2025
I imagined this would be an enjoyable sequel to Parnassus on Wheels, providing an account of what happened next to bookseller Roger Mifflin. It was that - and so much more - a tale of intrigue and suspense, in fact, that compares well with The Thirty-Nine Steps.
Bibliophiles will find much to love about Mifflin and his book-centric philosophy and about the many book titles strewn plentifully throughout the text. Note that many of these are actual, but some are fictitious. Discovering which is half the fun - and you'll be surprised at how many outlandish ones are real.
I found it interesting that the story (published in 1919 - the author's foreword is dated April 28) deals with happenings that were quite current, including the Paris Peace Conference (the first result of which, the Treaty of Versailles, was not signed until June 28, 1919), as I generally encounter historical fiction published at a further remove from the events of its setting. There is reference to the impending Prohibition - the act had been ratified on January 16, 1919 before the book's publication, but went into effect one year later, after the book was out.
Similarly, some of the now-classic books mentioned were pretty new at the time of publication. Tarzan of the Apes: The Original 1914 Edition was then just five years old, and the first Archy and Mehitabel cartoon had appeared in 1916 (Don Marquis and Morley were friends). Another friend of Morley was Edward Streeter, whose That's Me All Over, Mable gets a mention and I think it hadn't even been published yet! Ring Lardner, yet another of Morley's circle, gets a mention too.
I also appreciated getting period descriptions of Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
Bibliophiles will find much to love about Mifflin and his book-centric philosophy and about the many book titles strewn plentifully throughout the text. Note that many of these are actual, but some are fictitious. Discovering which is half the fun - and you'll be surprised at how many outlandish ones are real.
I found it interesting that the story (published in 1919 - the author's foreword is dated April 28) deals with happenings that were quite current, including the Paris Peace Conference (the first result of which, the Treaty of Versailles, was not signed until June 28, 1919), as I generally encounter historical fiction published at a further remove from the events of its setting. There is reference to the impending Prohibition - the act had been ratified on January 16, 1919 before the book's publication, but went into effect one year later, after the book was out.
Similarly, some of the now-classic books mentioned were pretty new at the time of publication. Tarzan of the Apes: The Original 1914 Edition was then just five years old, and the first Archy and Mehitabel cartoon had appeared in 1916 (Don Marquis and Morley were friends). Another friend of Morley was Edward Streeter, whose That's Me All Over, Mable gets a mention and I think it hadn't even been published yet! Ring Lardner, yet another of Morley's circle, gets a mention too.
I also appreciated getting period descriptions of Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
January 20, 2020
A sequel to Christopher Morley's charming
Parnassus on Wheels
, this novel finds Roger and Helen Mifflin running a second-hand bookstore in Brooklyn, NY. Here, at Parnassus at Home, the newly married couple find themselves playing chaperone to lovely society-girl Titania, the admiring Aubrey, and a host of other quirky characters.
While I did not find it as entertaining as its predecessor, and thought that some of the plot elements were a little far-fetched, The Haunted Bookshop had enough charm of its own that I was not sorry to read it. I could have cared less about the espionage, but the bookstore itself - now that's another matter.
While I did not find it as entertaining as its predecessor, and thought that some of the plot elements were a little far-fetched, The Haunted Bookshop had enough charm of its own that I was not sorry to read it. I could have cared less about the espionage, but the bookstore itself - now that's another matter.
June 4, 2023
This should probably get 4 stars, but as a bookseller emeritus I just couldn't love it more. So, 5.
January 5, 2024
la llibreria encantada és la segona part de la llibreria ambulant. espectacular. m’ho he passat molt bé llegint-lo i l’he trobat super intressant. tot i això, el primer em va agradar més, simplement perquè fa més gràcia el fet de que sigui ambulant i tal, ja que no és tant habitual. igualment molt bé m’ha encantat 💌💌
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