Such a Loss

A book has found its way to me. Typee by Herman Melville. I have read many by him, so this is a treat finding another, and what is said to be one of his best. One of the first things I do with a book is look at the dates, but none are on this book anywhere. No hint it was written in 1846. I have found several stamps though, it is from Oceanside High School in California. In the back is a card for the library it lived in, in the 1950's. Those first ten years it got a lot of usage. A wonderful sea tale, full of adventure and the exotic and the realities of life, written to perfection. Then comes the early 60's where it shows another 3 years and no more history than that. Hardly read at all during that time, no longer recommended by the teachers I would think, or no students who desires these sort of stories anymore. I wonder why this beautifully bound book, full of color illustrations was sent away. Maybe it is the picture inside the front cover, a beautiful dark girl, in a long clinging skirt with a wreath of flowers not quite covering her naked femininity, smoking an opium pipe while standing in a canoe being admired by the man she is with. "Fayaway and I had a delightful little party on the lake", is what its title is. Not a good influence on such young minds, perhaps those who pick and choose the school books thought. I open the book to glance in, there is one of Melville's favorite words, heathen. I saw that just the other day, the word heathen. In my old Webster dictionary, as the first description for the word ethnic. I never really thought them the same. Its strange how what we read and what it is suppose to mean is so arranged. And then always rearranged by the times and how our society guides us. Perhaps after I am gone and this book no longer has my shelf, it will end up where so many more like it have gone, disappeared and forgotten. How sad, it really is a treasure. And how sad the world, so anxious to go head long into a future that does not value such things.