Finding Unexpected Friendships In Books
Literary serendipity in the hidden room of Shakespeare & Co. were strangers, ideas, and curiosity meet.
On the second floor of Shakespeare & Co. there’s a room where almost everyone has their nose stuck in a book.
The second floor can be easily missed but if you're curious enough to stumble upon it, you'll see it appears to attract a particular crowd different than the picture-taking tourists below.
It’s a bit like stumbling into your grandma’s attic. A wooden desk, a typewriter, wooden beams on the ceiling, and mismatched picture frames with black-and-white photos hanging crookedly. The small bit of wall space not covered with books is plastered with peeling floral wallpaper. Relics of a bygone era.
On this floor, the book spines don’t compete with one another in splashes of color as they do on the first floor. Actually, these books are almost entirely devoid of any artwork on their covers. Instead, they appear to be various shades of dull blue, red, and brown. Their spines are decorated by gold typography and the most exciting difference is serif or sans serif font.
It makes me wonder when book cover artwork became popular. Because in a time not so long ago, there was no possible way to judge a book by its cover. The only way to judge it was to crack it open, sit and read it.
“Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they the angels in disguise.”
Painted above the archway on the second floor in black lettering is the phrase, “Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they the angels in disguise.”
As people walked by, hardly anyone seemed to notice it. Once in a while someone would look up and smile.
Two years ago, that was me. In 2021 when I first came to Shakespeare & Co., I understood the phrase to mean actual strangers, people. But it’s interesting how our interpretation can change, for this time I thought about it differently.
What if it also can refer to books? What if it means to be not inhospitable to books, lest they be angels in disguise?
Often we are quick to judge both people and books for what they seem to be at first glance.
But what if the seemingly uninteresting book is actually a life-changing novel? It’s a reminder to approach books with an open mind and be receptive to the hidden potential within their pages.
It’s perhaps an invitation to pick up a type of book you ordinarily wouldn’t read. A book that may be a stranger to you at first, could turn into a friend.
What if it means to be not inhospitable to books, lest they be angels in disguise?
Befriending a Book
Picking up a copy of a book called The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shakfak, I took it upon myself to turn this strange book into a friend.
Although the cover is pink and the name gives the illusion of being some sort of romantic novel, that’s not exactly what the story inside is about.
Curled up on a couch on the second floor, I opened the book and got to know it. The story is ancient, taking place in Iraq and Turkey. It’s about the ancient teachings of Rumi, the wisdom of Islam, and the common thread of all religions and spirituality— love. The most complex yet simple pillar of them all.
As the hours went by while I was reading, I noticed the flow of people coming in and out. Most just looked at the books without touching them. Their gaze scanned the shelves, they snapped a picture and walked away.
In my head, I urged them— “Pick a book. Come on choose one! Open it to any page and see for yourself what message it holds. Aren't you curious?!”
But people would just look at me and the few other readers and smile. But it was almost a sad smile. A longing one. One that says, I wish I could sit there reading and be as content as you.
And they could. Nothing is stopping them except the choice. We must make the choice. Let’s pick up a book and give it a chance. Be curious about what we might learn.
If there's any way to live many lifetimes, it's through reading. Books add years to our own. It’s why going into a bookstore is exciting. It’s the chance to step into someone else’s world at another time or another place.
History nugget: The first Shakespeare & Co. was opened in 1919 by Sylvia Beach. Sylvia was an American ex-pat living in Paris. She started the bookstore which was at the time half shop and half lending library. The shop was a gathering place for counterculture writers and thinkers including Ernest Hemingway, T.S Eliot, Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. When Hemingway was broke, she would lend him books and act as his banker. The shop did not survive the Nazi occupation of Paris, closing its doors in 1941.
Later, George Whitman, also an American ex-pat, opened a shop by the same name on the banks of the Seine. During the Cold War, the shop closed and George was barred from selling books likely due to his anti-cold war views and frequent long-haired American comers who were evading the Vietnam draft. During this time he turned it into the ‘Free University of Paris: A Private Library Open by Invitation to the Public.’
It became a gathering place hosting anti-war discussions, women’s collectives, Black Power meetings, and poetry readings. James Baldwin and Langston Hughes frequented the shop.
With remarks to the phrase, “Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they the angels in disguise,” Whitman, an avid traveler shared that wherever he went, he was met with kindness and generosity. “I believe we’re all homeless wanderers in a way,” he said. “The philosophy of the bookstore is to reciprocate the hospitality I received in the past.” I find this to be true, in both people strangers and in book strangers.
In Whitman’s words, a bookstore is a place of possibility, where ideas and curiosity permeate the millions of pages lining the walls.
Shakespeare & Co. is one of the most iconic bookstores in the entire world. Its one of those rare places that invites you to leave your distractions, problems, and urgency behind and immerse yourself in the pages of a beautiful story. In the city of love, it tells a million love stories, all you have to do is keep on turning the pages.
'Forty Rules of Love' is an incredible book and Elif Shafak is one of the most influential writers alive. If you like her writing style, I recommend 'The Bastard of Istanbul'. It was my favourite book that I read last year.