This is the doorway of a church I walk past in Kilburn on my way home from work. Love the dramatic lighting! You can see how dark it is in the afternoons now. If I need to do something in the garden on a weekday, I have to do it in the morning before I leave the house, because by the time I get home it's already night.
This is my current Newbery read, "Adam of the Road," from 1943. It's about a boy in medieval England, and it's OK. I'm about two-thirds of the way through and I'm not exactly champing at the bit to find out what happens, but I'll finish it. This is one of our older volumes, as you can see, printed in 1962 and first checked out -- according to the date stamps inside the cover -- in November 1975.
My favorite thing about it is the careful repair job someone did to the dust jacket. See how they found yellow and black paper to go beneath the torn cover in order to keep the colors consistent? They really made an effort! I wish we tried so hard to fix things in this day and age. Now we're much more likely to simply discard a worn book and buy a new one.
That shot is stunning.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteIt is a lovely and welcoming lit church door. Almost makes you want to get religion. We have culled and then culled books, but we still have two bookcases full of books, plus a couple of small boxes of books. Many would be electronicalised by now, but I know not all have been. eBooks and lavish book photos are not compatible.
ReplyDeleteYeah, some books are better on paper -- that's just the way it is. I haven't warmed to e-books myself. I much prefer to read physical copies.
DeleteWe have been living in throwaway societies but at last citizens are waking up. Young people are not averse to wearing "pre-loved" clothes and there's a popular programme on the BBC called "The Repair Shop" plus in the internet there's a blog called "Shadows and Light" in which the author is forever bringing stuff home. Things are changing.
ReplyDeleteI do think people are becoming more aware of the need to take care of things. There's been a lot of attention paid to the wastefulness of "fast fashion," for example.
DeleteThe book may be blah, but my eye is drawn to the illustration on the cover, which I find very pleasing. Often you can tell the era just by the style of the artwork.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice artwork, done by Robert Lawson, who also wrote the Newbery winner "Rabbit Hill."
DeleteOne of my favorite quotes is "I am not a religious man but I am lifted up by the architecture of churches."
ReplyDeleteI feel the same; love that photo.
As church attendance wanes it's been interesting to see how communities deal with their old church buildings. Here in Europe many of them have been turned into community centers or performance spaces, which is pretty cool.
DeleteEvocative photo...
ReplyDeleteEvocative lighting!
DeleteAs everyone here has said- amazing photo. So dramatic and as close to perfection as humans can get, I think.
ReplyDeleteWhoever designed the lighting gets the real credit.
DeleteI like the covers on old books too - the illustrations and printing speak of their time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, old book covers and dust jackets are always interesting.
DeleteYes, our throwaway culture. There's too much of everything so nothing has value.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if those church doors are locked.
I didn't try them, but I'm sure they are. This is a very urban area and I don't think they could leave the building open all the time. Even the gate leading to the front walkway was closed.
DeleteThat photo of the church door is very dramatic. I like it. And, looking at that book brings back memories. Many library books I checked out as a teenager looked a lot like that.
ReplyDeleteI remember that darkness from the last time I was there in November. It seemed to be dark at 4:30 in the afternoon.
Yeah, that's about right. It's dark by the time I leave work at 4:45 or so.
DeleteI have a thing for church doors, and that one is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe lighting designer gets all the credit! (Well, the stonework is beautiful too.)
DeleteLovely photo of that church door. I just checked the sunrise and sunset times in London. 7:22 sunrise and a 4:08 sunset. Our sunrise time is 7:06 and sunset is 4:56 here on the California north coast. It surprises me that we get that much more light at the end of the day. Still heading towards solstice, and then the return of the light. We're almost there.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you have an additional hour! But you are quite a bit south of us, I think.
DeleteSteve-- I just checked and was quite surprised. London is 50 degrees N latitude, and we're only 41 degrees N. That is big difference.
DeleteI had to think about how the cover was repaired. To put paper underneath the torn area is doing a super job.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it? I was impressed!
DeleteI love church doors, old church doors, not the modern ones. I am amazed that you are able to read books that don't really hold your attention. I picked up "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr and I loved his last book but this one has not grabbed me. I'm trying but it's just hard work right now.
ReplyDeleteI loved "All the Light We Cannot See." I haven't even heard of that new one! I usually push on through unless I am really in agony, because sometimes slow books get better.
DeleteI can't decide if that doorway looks welcoming (come in out of the night!), or foreboding (beware all ye who enter here!). Either way it's a fabulous photo.
ReplyDeleteHa! Well, it's beautifully lit, but I'm not entirely sure it seems welcoming -- especially since it's closed!
DeleteI have a weakness for photographs of doors (and gates) and this one is stunning! I looked up the book at Amazon and it sounds like a good story to me! It has good reviews, too. How is it lacking for you?
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't bad. It's a nice enough story -- if a bit overly sunny given its medieval setting. I found the plot didn't pick up until about page 65, when there's an event that finally creates some dramatic tension.
DeleteRepairing books was one of my favorite jobs when I worked in the school library. They taught us that at the library school I attended and it always made me feel great when I could save a book.
ReplyDeleteOminous church doors! Dramatic!
My co-worker usually does repairs, so that's not something I'm tasked with. I probably should learn, though!
DeleteI love that shot of the church door!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI can remember putting many of those plastic (or plasticene?) covers on collectible books to protect their dust jackets.
ReplyDeleteYeah, dust jackets -- especially over time -- are so delicate. I think they just weren't made to last forever. They're more a marketing tool than anything. The plastic covers changed that!
DeleteOh, that church door. All ours in town are lit at night so not so elegant and mysterious. That orchid color is stunning. I didn’t realize how much more quickly cambria orchid blooms come and go. Ours are history. There’s something touching about the care given to that dust jacket.
ReplyDelete