Interplay: A Kind of Commonplace Bookby D.J. Enright
"'Interplay' for reasons that are obvious, even if 'play' isn't always. 'A kind of ' admitting to hesitancy, hinting at hope. 'Commonplace' as concerns some places, in its common meaning. 'Book', because printed pages bound together are called a book." (p 1)
There is a fascination, interest, perhaps passion in which I indulge my eclectic interests. The commonplace book seems to suit my peripatetic mind. It is a writer's personal collection of quotations, observations, and topic ideas.
D. J. Enright has been a teacher of English Literature, an editor, a poet, and an essayist at times in his life. He has also been a collector and as such has accumulated this "commonplace" book out of his own and a few other authors writings. It is a book filled with aphorisms and adages, quotes and quotidian expressions, ideas and essays, or at least the germ of ideas of essays. It is a delight to dip into a book like this, especially from a poetic writer and an eclectic collector like Mr. Enright. It has inspired me (along with a similar work by the poet W. H. Auden) to collect commonplace sayings and selections of my own from some of my favorite authors. This collection is best when dwelling in the world of books and literary pretensions. It can amuse and amaze the reader, sometimes both at the same time.
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