Status Updates From Stories of Books and Libraries

In novels, imagination is equated with empathy;we can’t experience all that others have gone through, but we can understand even the most monstrous individuals in works of fiction.A good novel is one that shows the complexity of individuals.Empathy lies at the heart of Gatsby, like so many other great novels – the biggest sin is to be blind to others’ problems and pains. Not seeing them means denying their existence.

And the non-reading of books, you will object, should be characteristic of collectors? It is the oldest thing in the world. Suffice it to quote the answer which Anatole France gave to a philistine who admired his library and then finished with the standard question, 'And you have read all these books, Monsieur France?' 'Not one-tenth of them. I don't suppose your use your Sèvres china every day?'
(Walter Benjamin)