second-hand gems.

i want to talk about the stories behind things you buy second hand. i read this book at christmas called 'will grayson, will grayson', it was very good i did like it. It's written by john green and david levithan who, i'm just gonna throw this out there, i think their own individual books are better than this novel of combined writings: just saying.

after i read 'will grayson, will grayson', i bought david levithan's novel: 'boy meets boy'.

i'd never read any of his other work apart from that of 'will grayson, will grayson' so after finding no new copies of it on amazon, i went ahead and purchased a second hand copy for only 1p. i quite like second-hand books because you're never that worried about the first tear of a page or the wrinkle in the spine, it's already been done, so you just get on with it. this book was fantastic. one of my favourite things about it was the fact that the person who had previously owned it had highlighted certain parts of it, parts which i think were probably their favourite. it was clear as i read it and i could see why they had highlighted it. it was beautifully written.
i obviously then took out a highlighter and started colouring away at lines and phrases that i loved too. (unfortunately many overlapped). i loved the fact that someone else had read this book and enjoyed it enough to permanently mark it in order for it to stand out. maybe i'm reading too much into it but i find it comforting. it makes everything connect and flow together somehow.



as you can see, i've worked the smiths yet again into another post!



it reminded me of a present i received once, from a friend who had bought me the smiths' 'meat is murder' in a vintage clothing shop in belfast. it was very thoughtful of him. on the back of this record it said 'happy christmas, love andrew'. obviously this item had a previous owner, it was bought in a vintage shop, but i could imagine that whoever andrew had bought this for, he knew they would appreciate the music and the effort and the gift itself. i hope the person who bought it for me felt good about giving me a gift they knew i would be very thankful for. i like the fact that there are similar intentions hidden there. it's a very nice thought, the idea of something being passed around different, faceless people in that although i don't know who andrew was buying the record for, neither did andrew know that it would one day end up with me. it's completely random and impersonal and yet intimate and personal. i like this juxtaposition.

(there's a few more examples that i wanted to talk about here but i really think the message is clear and no one wants to read any more about the stuff that i buy and accquire).

you can go into any charity shop and buy an item of clothing or a cd or a book or whatever and it will have passed many hands. and, at the risk of sounding annoyingly sentimental: it's a lovely feeling this sense of continuity that you get when it happens to you. just thought i'd write about it. lovely lovely.