You know that famous quote by film director Sergei Eisenstein that says "Books cling to me. They fly down to me - ran up and attach themselves to me"?
Well, that's exactly what happens to me: even when I'm not looking for a book, I end up stumbling into a bookshop or a library.
Yesterday for example I found myself in front of Moscow-based Biblio Globus by pure chance.
Outside it was raining and it was too early to go and visit any museums, so I had more than just one reason to get in apart from my book obsession.
I surprisedly found out that there were already quite a few people inside even though it was just 9.30 am.
The bookshop is massive and I really felt frustrated at not being able to speak Russian. Imagine that they even have a "Children's Poems" Section, simply inconceivable in many other countries where such books are catalogue under "Children" with no distinction from novels.
The shop windows were also rather unusual as, rather than displaying any best selling novels, they told the history of literacy through little scenes that started from prehistoric times.
Biblio Globus really made me think about the state of the publishing industry and of book retailers in Europe and the USA where quite a few big bookshop chains lost customers or even closed down (think about Borders announcing liquidation a few months ago...) as readers moved onto the digital book format.
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