Sunday, June 05, 2011

The Book I Love Is On That Train And Gone

It takes a worried bookworm to sing a worried song.  Except I'm not worried; I'm pissed at myself.  I took my backpack with me to Val's birthday party.  I would stay the night and venture on into Seoul the next day for a Bookleaves book group meeting.

Getting on the subway, I threw the backpack onto the shelf over me and held my purse on my lap.  I never thought of the backpack again until I was off the train, through the station and into a taxi.  Oh shit.

There wasn't much in the backpack.  I can obviously live without it:  toiletries, a shirt I've had for 7+ years, underwear that I wouldn't want to go to the hospital in, an umbrella that was starting to get a hole in it and the huge plastic glasses with candles on them that I meant for Val to wear during the festivities.

And a book.  Not just any book.  It was my hardcover copy of this book: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

O my bookworms.  I was 150 pages in and enjoying every single word.  In the darkest corner of my bibliomanic little heart, I didn't want to stop reading it long enough to go to the party, so I packed it up with my other weekend gear and promised it fondly that I'd get back to it later on in the hotel room.  Then I fell to socializing with the other partygoers and left it on the train!

I was further punished for my faulty memory by having only a 2-year-old magazine called GROOVE to read in the hotel room.  I don't know which was worse, the dull writing, the uncertain grammar or all those typos.  Nearly every hour I woke up and cursed my forgetfulness.

Since there seemed to be no bookstores in Songtan, where the party was being held, Val kindly lent me her book -- If You Really Loved Me by Ann Rule -- for the subway ride to Seoul the next day.  As soon as I could, I stormed into a Kyobo bookstore.  I didn't care.  I would re-buy the book.  Unfortunately, all they had was one copy of the large-print edition priced at approximately $35 (USD) which much more than I had paid for my lost copy.  I couldn't do it, even though being stranded at an exciting part in the narrative with no way to finish is making me crazy.

My backpack could still turn up.  The best possible scenario is that it's in the Lost and Found at the City Hall station in Seoul.  I have pretty much mentally kissed it all goodbye, but Val is determined that I shall have it back.  This kind of thing brings out the Miss Marple in her. Stay tuned.

10 comments:

jenclair said...

How frustrating! That goes in the category of catastrophe. Hope you get your backpack and your BOOK back!

Eva said...

Oh no! I hope Val proves you wrong. ;)

Care said...

GOOD LUCK! Think positive! I'm cheering for you and your MissMarple determination.

Anonymous said...

Well that just sucks. Maybe you can dream your backpack home?

Teacher/Learner said...

Ouch, too bad :( I used to lose things all the time at school & on the bus, especially in the winter with all my gear. Hope the bag turns up.

Sam said...

This kind of thing is a huge tragedy for ex-pats. Here's hoping it turns up in Lost and Found...

Pace said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
fantsmacle said...

They probably blew up your backpack thinking it was a bomb. Good job, you just caused a panic in the subway.

anothercookiecrumbles said...

How annoying. It's happened to me once and I was well miffed. Hope it turns up

Unruly Reader said...

This is a nightmare scenario! Oh, dear heavens to Betsy Maud! (I'm not exaggerating. This is truly dreadful.)

I actually had a nightmare about a similar thing -- leaving my carry-on in the overhead bin of an airplane. And the airline Would Not Yield it to me, even though I realized my mistake before even leaving the airport. It was only a dream, and still I was so indignant and distressed.

May your backpack (and Hillenbrand book) have a happier reunion with their woebegotten owner.