--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When he read a book he gave himself over…" description: "\"“When he read a book he gave himself over entirely to commas and semicolons, to the space after the period and before the capital letter of the next se..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/nicole-krauss-920_books_when-he-read-a-book-he-gave-himself-over_2446998.png" --- # When he read a book he gave himself over entirely to… ![“When he read a book he gave himself over entirely to commas and semicolons, to the space after the period and before the capital letter of the next sentence. He discovered the places in a room where silence gathered; the folds of the curtain drapes, the deep bowls of the family silver. When people…” quote by Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/nicole-krauss-920_books_when-he-read-a-book-he-gave-himself-over_2446998.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/nicole-krauss-920_books_when-he-read-a-book-he-gave-himself-over_2446998.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/nicole-krauss-920_books_when-he-read-a-book-he-gave-himself-over_2446998.png) > ““When he read a book he gave himself over entirely to commas and semicolons, to the space after the period and before the capital letter of the next sentence. He discovered the places in a room where silence gathered; the folds of the curtain drapes, the deep bowls of the family silver. When people spoke to him he heard less of what they were saying, and more and more of what they were not.”” [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Immersive reading transforms ordinary details into vivid sensory experiences, blurring the line between text and environment. **In simple terms:** Reading can make the world feel alive. Key Takeaway Read deeply to notice hidden textures. Themes literature perception mindfulness Mood contemplative introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - mindful walking - design - interior design Key Concepts sensory immersion attention to detail language rhythm Questions to Reflect On - What details do you overlook daily? - How does focused reading change your perception? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis may detach from reality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Commas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commas/) [Commas Semicolons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commas-semicolons-537662/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Read A Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-a-book/) [Semicolons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/semicolons-280411/) [Semicolons Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/semicolons-space-537661/) [Sentence Discovered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentence-discovered-537663/) ## Related quotes > [To one who has enjoyed the full life of any scene, of any hour, what thoughts can be recorded about it seem like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/to-one-who-has-enjoyed-the-full-life-of-any-scene-of-any-hour-what/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/here-is-a-lesson-in-creative-writing-first-rule-do-not-use-semicolons/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites, representing nothing. All they do is show you've been to college.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/do-not-use-semicolons-they-are-transvestite-hermaphrodites/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Let me note that Kilgore Trout and I have never used semicolons. They don't do anything, don't suggest anything. They are transvestite hermaphrodites.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/let-me-note-that-kilgore-trout-and-i-have-never-used-semicolons-they/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I realize that some of you may have come in hopes of hearing tips on how to become a professional writer. I say to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-realize-that-some-of-you-may-have-come-in-hopes-of-hearing-tips-on/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“How come you never use semicolons?” she’ll say. Or: “How come you chop it all up into little sections instead of letting it flow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/how-come-you-never-use-semicolons-she-ll-say-or-how-come-you-chop-it/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I use a whole lot of half-assed semicolons; there was one of them just now; that was a semicolon after 'semicolons,' and another one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/i-use-a-whole-lot-of-half-assed-semicolons-there-was-one-of-them-just/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Cruelty to punctuation is quite unlegislated: you can get away with pulling the legs off semicolons; shrivelling question marks on the garden path under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/cruelty-to-punctuation-is-quite-unlegislated-you-can-get-away-with/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/here-is-a-lesson-in-creative-writing-first-rule-do-not-use-semicolons-3/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Semicolons . . . signal, rather than shout, a relationship. . . . A semicolon is a compliment from the writer to the reader.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/semicolons-signal-rather-than-shout-a-relationship-a-semicolon-is-a/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [“The one critisism the author of Slaugherhouse-Five would make of the young writer was what he called a punctuation problem. Mr. Vonnegut didn't like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/the-one-critisism-the-author-of-slaugherhouse-five-would-make-of-the/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [Somebody put a drop under a magnifying-glass and it was all semicolons and parentheses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/somebody-put-a-drop-under-a-magnifying-glass-and-it-was-all/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Maximum sentence length: seventeen words. Minimum:one No semicolons. Semicolons indicate relationships that only idiots need defined by punctuation. Besides, they are ugly. Make sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hugo/maximum-sentence-length-seventeen-words-minimum-one-no-semicolons/) [Richard Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hugo/) > [I hope that my ideas attract a lively dialogue, even if my sentences are simple. Simple sentences have always served me well. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-hope-that-my-ideas-attract-a-lively-dialogue-even-if-my-sentences/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [It should come as no surprise that writers take an interest in punctuation. I have been told that the dying words of one famous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/it-should-come-as-no-surprise-that-writers-take-an-interest-in/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) ## More by Nicole Krauss > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [When we went into the ocean, I watched his body as he dove into the waves, and it gave me a feeling in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/when-we-went-into-the-ocean-i-watched-his-body-as-he-dove-into-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“There are times when the kindness of strangers only makes matter worse because one realizes how badly one is in need of kindness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/there-are-times-when-the-kindness-of-strangers-only-makes-matter/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [She was gone, and all that was left was the space where you'd grown around her, like a tree that grows around a fence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-was-gone-and-all-that-was-left-was-the-space-where-you-d-grown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The air felt different in my lungs. The world no longer looked the same. You change and then you change again. You become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-air-felt-different-in-my-lungs-the-world-no-longer-looked-the/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“The first language humans had was gestures. There was nothing primitive about this language that flowed from people’s hands, nothing we say now that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-first-language-humans-had-was-gestures-there-was-nothing/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I feel really strongly about not wanting to overly guide the reader about what he or she should think. I really trust the reader…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-feel-really-strongly-about-not-wanting-to-overly-guide-the-reader/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Mom?" I said. She turned. "Can I talk to you about something?" "Of course, darling. Come here." I took a few steps into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/mom-i-said-she-turned-can-i-talk-to-you-about-something-of-course/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [In one's youth, one has tremendous access to one's feelings. And as one gets older, some of those feelings kind of drift away. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/in-one-s-youth-one-has-tremendous-access-to-one-s-feelings-and-as-one/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Obviously I've been reading Kafka for a long long time, since I was really young, and even before I ever read him I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/obviously-i-ve-been-reading-kafka-for-a-long-long-time-since-i-was/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“She's kept her love for him as alive as the summer they first met. In order to do this, she's turned life away. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/she-s-kept-her-love-for-him-as-alive-as-the-summer-they-first-met-in/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [Sometimes no length of string is long enough to say the thing that needs to be said. In such cases all the string can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/sometimes-no-length-of-string-is-long-enough-to-say-the-thing-that/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Doesn’t part of the awe that fills us when we confront the unknown come from understanding that, should it at last flood into us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/doesn-t-part-of-the-awe-that-fills-us-when-we-confront-the-unknown/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“I knew how to raise my own child, what did he think it was, a game of Scrabble or Monopoly, there are no rules,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-knew-how-to-raise-my-own-child-what-did-he-think-it-was-a-game-of/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) [Explore all 323 Nicole Krauss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When he read a book he gave himself over entirely to commas and semicolons, to the space after the period and before the capital letter of the next sentence. He discovered the places in a room where silence gathered; the folds of the curtain drapes, the deep bowls of the family silver. 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