March 07, 2004

Heather and I start arguing as soon as we enter a bookstore. She dislikes most of the books I love — they bore her, she says — and I always fail to convey to her the exquisite shivers books send down the length of my spine even when I inarticulately wave my hands in front of my face.

During reading week, while quarrelling with Heather at the Bookworm, I got A Jest of God. Buying the book seemed to be the easiest way to end the argument and move out of the store.

Now that I started reading it, I’m glad I picked up Laurence’s book — it’s fantastically written and cleverly uses first person narration. It’s tricky to shape a first person narrative since every detail has to be warped by the perceptions of the narrator. And narrators are always shifty.

I wanted to tell Heather about the book yesterday when we stopped at Words Worth Books after spending an hour pleasently talking in a coffee shop — I even showed her my wounds. But as soon as we entered the bookstore, we got into another vicious argument while reading Maclean’s ranking of Laurier.

“Lies,” I cried, looking at my watch and realizing I soon had to meet Matt in a bathroom.

We stepped out of the bookstore and walked quickly and silently through the cold back to the university.