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Chapter 14: I Am An Athenaeum
Chapter 14: I Am An Athenaeum
(Sir Bic, June 3rd, 2011)
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I am an athenaeum ;21 In the innermost area of every house.
The place, Where eternity came from, Where eternity will one day return. A room filled with shadows.
A room overflowing, With unasked questions, With unthinkable thoughts.
I am a space of limitless knowledge; A space for practicing patience, Where elucidation from flickering light Is cast from candled lamp stands.
At night: Moonlight bleeds Through vaulted windows, Encased in coffered ceilings.
In darkness: Moonbeams shine Through swirls of floating dust, On polished granite floors.
I hear footsteps clatter
21 In the comments: Jeanne Morningstar: “What do you think the difference is between the Athenaeum and the Library? I’m writing a piece about a book, and I’m not sure where to put it.” Sir Bic: “I think of a Library as a personal place but an Athenaeum as more of social space; where a learning club might linger. I am very interested, however, in what others think. I enjoy learning from others.” 34
Toward towering bookcases, Stopping beneath Benches of opened books.
They sit, They read, They wonder.
Answers exist; In volumes of history, In tomes of science, In bibles of belief.
They wonder, They read, They sit.
Someday Unasked questions Will be answered.
Somehow The mind will see Unthinkable thoughts.
I exist outside the binds of time, In the innermost area of every house.22
I am an eternity of learning, Waiting forever to be found.
22
The suggestion that the Athenaeum of every house is connected to every other Athenaeum is reminiscent of Terry Pratchett’s conception of “L-Space”, whereby large concentrations of books warp space-time, meaning that any reasonably large library can connect to any other one across the Multiverse. However, Sir Bic’s emphasis on the difference between an Athaneaum and a Library suggests that Bic’s Athanaeum is a narrower “special case” of L-Space, if the two concepts are at all related, rather than a different name for the same principle.
