Literally Reruns – Bibliophilia by Martyn Clayton

Indefatigable that’s what Leila Allison is and as the earth turns on it’s axis to carry us into winter she pulls on her gloves and boots and carries on foraging in the darkest reaches of LS Towers catacombs. She sends us these some weeks before you good readers have the chance to see them and we are really grateful for her rootling and scrabbling – it plays havoc with her manicure. This time she has come up with a story by Martyn Clayton and this is what she said:

We all want to inherit money. It’s the stuff that makes the world go round. Yet we refuse to acknowledge that the concept of monetary wealth is imaginary. If human society were to go kaput, any survivors would value useful goods (in my case the contents of the abandoned liquor stores, pharmacies and pet shops) and leave the suddenly emptied stacks lay.

Mr. Clayton’s Bibliophilia features a young woman named Charlotte (just call her “Lottie”) who inherits her grandfather’s immense library upon his death. The others got money, Charlotte was gifted something that had been loved. The others encourage Lottie to sell the collection, for her flat is small and grandfather isn’t in position to mind. Yet one should suspect that Lottie knows that art cannot be drained of its blood the same way money can. And although both money and art are works of imagination, one was forced upon us while the other is human and there for the taking or leaving.

Let’s pepper Mr. Clayton with nosey questions.

Q: I enjoyed the way Charlotte’s character slowly emerged then flowered. Was it difficult to find room for her to grow and still supply the necessary details in this short piece?

Q: I collect books. Other than nasty notices from the landlord regarding my smoking indoors, books are what I have most of. I hate the idea of technology shrinking personal and public libraries. What are your thoughts on the subject?

Leila Allison

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Bibliophilia 

Martyn’s Responses: