The books that bind – Jane Austen and Timbuktu
Yesterday the BBC TV news carried two literary-related items.
Yesterday marked the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Yesterday the French army seized Timbuktu, only to discover that a library of ancient manuscripts had been burned and most of the books destroyed.
What a contrast! The peace of English village life/the violence of war; a book loved/books destroyed; appreciative readers celebrating/an act of childish spite.
The arsonists have achieved nothing but to rob the world of a treasure, and to weaken an age old connection between the local people and their ancestors.
I sometimes think of books as links in a chain joining the past to the future via the present. The chain is anchored in the past when the book was first made and its links uncoil into the future for as long as it’s remembered. Each generation adds a new one.
If the book still exists the links are strong, but once it’s gone the chain depends on human memory to keep forging.
Memories of some of those old scholars who built the library and wrote the books will start to fade. They do not deserve to be forgotten.
Austen however goes from strength to strength and this year will be celebrated all over the world.
Picture from dontstepinthepoop.
e a m harris 
I think you are right to high-light these two contrasting events – food for thought, thank you.
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Thank you for stopping by and commenting – as you say such opposite actions make one think. I hope that there is no more destruction in Timbuktu and that those celebrating Jane Austen have a great time.
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