In case you were wondering, I finished Shimazaki Toson's Before the Dawn this week (after going to the library and extending the due date). But I didn't close it - after reading the glossary and rereading the introduction - with the sense of accomplishment I had expected to feel.
Of course, there was the relief you always feel when finishing any big book, knowing that you're now free to go out in the evening and pick up other - slimmer - books.
But the sadness of the ending (I won't divulge the details because I don't want to ruin your own reading of it) combined with the realization that, for all the hours I had spent with Toson, I had read just one more book in the vast universe of books. Every morning I walk into my living room and am confronted with stacks of unread books. Perhaps this is the appeal of Kindle - the absence of a physical presence, a constant reminder, a guilt-producing mass.
