in the stacks

i recently visited the library and sought out a few books
the experience was one of wonder
i wondered why i could not find the books i looked for
for i was told by the computer that these books were on the shelf
but in the looking around i found another book
actually two
both of which have proven as useful for my insight
into present day areas of study

the forthcoming quote is from a paperback
entitled
TREATY TRIP
based on the journal which Claude Lewis kept
while on a journey up to the rivers and lakes
of Manitoba with his brother Sinclair
1924
the text is edited and abridged by
donald greene and george knox and published
in 1959

i am curious about the following line
because a previous reader has manually deleted the line
with a pencil literally crossed it out

the text is interspersed with the pieces of a novel Sinclair Lewis
wrote after the canoe trip
MANTRAP p 167

"nobody ever moves ten inches in the North
without being seen"

the following is Sinclair's description
of the land he visited and the way it left
it's impression upon him

'There was a good deal of regional patriotism. The outside
was regarded with suspicion: it was a place that one might visit from
time to time, to see relatives or for relaxation.....()>>>... [ the next line is the one that is crossed out] - and parenthetized - (The Pas {LaPas} is about 3/4 loose, and you can go as far as you like," Claude Lewis reports)-.....

what follows is a judgement he made
upon his brother's ability to withstand the trial of
life in the summer in the north which seems to have
involved drinking whoring gambling fishing and
running rapids and some writing

at any rate
i was delighted to read the whole thing
and i plan to quote again from the text
at a later date

my point today is simply the
acknowledgement of pleasure
which i suspect is all but lost
the pleasure of finding a book
you did not know you wanted to read