Did you know the BOOK?

I can't imagine a world where a book and the idea of a book does not exist. Mankind has used it for millennia in order to achieve the highest possible level of knowledge. Without it history, tradition, religion, philosophy, politics and in essence our whole history would have been very different to what it is. However, even its non existence in the future will result in a more and more electrical based knowledge, where everything is on-line, altering the way with which knowledge is passed down to the pupils and students at both school and university. Although this is currently evident through the existence and prevalence of the i-books (kindle), the smart phones etc. Lets hope that the platonic idea of a book, which exists in the world of ideas will also exist in our world for centuries to come. 

Dragon Tattoo fever

Okay, I'll admit it....my real excitement for the upcoming Hollywood version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie doesn't have a whole lot to do with my love for the Stieg Larsson book trilogy.  I've only finished the first one so far and thought it was an okay read, aside from the fact that I'm really not a fan of graphic sexual violence.  The real reasons I'm so excited for the movie are: A) I have a huge and not-so-secret crush on the handsome actor Daniel Craig;  B)  I really, really, really want to hear how well a bunch of American and Brit actors pull off fake Swedish accents in English; and C) A good portion of the movie was filmed within a half hour drive of where I live, not only in Stockholm but on our neighboring island of Ingarö.

Last fall I spent an afternoon stalking the set of the movie in Stockholm and even though I don't think I managed to catch Mr. Hottie Craig (unless that's him in the second photo), it was still fun to watch them turning this huge rain machine on and off during filming:

Here's the trailer for the movie...not due to come out until December, but by then I'll most likely be ready to find a babysitter and hit the movie theater for a couple of hours:



In other random Dragon Tattoo trivia, the original Swedish title is Män Som Hatar Kvinnor, or Men Who Hate Women.  The original title is much more true to the plot, since the tattooed heroine isn't necessarily the main focus of the story, but my hunch is that in order to earn more money they changed the English title to make it sound titillating and dangerous instead of like a book from the self-help section....

Smallest Books in the World

Jozsef Tari is a Hungarian collector of miniature books. He began this 'different' collection 35 years ago and has currently more than 4.500 books. The size of the books within his collection is not greater than 7.5 cm .

 His smallest book is 2.9X3.2 cm, whilst many of them are more than 100 years old. He also collects miniature newspapers, the smallest being 1.9X2.6 cm. 

I am guessing that he has a very good eyesight in order to read these very small books.!

A book made by human skin

The book "The Poetical Works" includes English poet's John Milton's poems. Paradise Lost is also found here, which is one of his most famous work. The book referred here is one of a kind since the leather which binds it together is made with human skin.  

George Cudmore was executed by hanging in March 1830 for allegedly poisoning his mistress Sarah Dunn. A little while after his execution in Exeter his soulless body was ripped of its flesh and part of it was found in Mr. W. Clifford's hands, who had a bookshop near the area where the hanging took place.

It is evident that this book is a unique, unusual and cruel creation, but without this story it would have remained a mystery. However it does not seem, easily, that its origins derive from a human.

What to do with unwanted books...

I am sure these pictures will give people some ideas on what to do with unwanted books...Some people do use their imagination to much..!